Geek Love
by Forestrosesprite
Summary: Bella meets Edward in college. Edward isn't the easiest person to get to know. EXB. Bella POV. AH.
1. First Impressions

**POV:** Bella

**Summary:** Bella meets Edward in college. Anything else would be giving away plot.

**Disclaimer: **I am not Stephenie Meyer. I do not own the Twilight series.

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**Chapter 1 **

**First Impressions **

I had come to believe that the only man that I would ever love was inside a book. In all my life I had yet to fine one guy that I could stand to be around for more than five minuets. In high school all of the boys were uncouth and unintelligent. They thought that the stupidest things were funny and that a "C" was an acceptable grade in a class.

Early on I had become frustrated with males as a species. The only desirable men seemed to live between the pages of a book, and of course most of these men had been conceived by women. The prefect man was created by women like me, women who couldn't stand how men really were and fashioned the way that they should be. They were all handsome, intelligent, kind, romantic and so forth. The more young girls read these kinds of books the more it became obvious that to accept anything less than the perfect man was ridiculous.

Upon entering college I noticed a flaw in my reasoning. If women were to only accept the kind of men that existed in books then mankind would cease to exist. It was quite a conundrum and I realized that if I truly wanted to find some sort of significant other then I was going to have to set my sights a bit lower than the ideal created for me by the literary world.

I still wanted specific things, though. Intelligence was a must; I had to find someone that I could have a conversation with. A good sense of humor; I liked to laugh. And I must be attracted to this person. Physical attraction was nature's way of saying "this person and I would have pretty kids." It was not a shallow thing to want to be physically attracted to ones partner. It was part of nature.

My first two years of college had passed without any luck. Most of the guys that I interacted with seemed to be the exact same as the ones that I had previously attended high school with. I had begun to believe that the only corporeal males that would ever be a part of my life would be the fifty or so cats that I was sure to collect once I got a bit older.

I slugged into my second class of the day. It was the first day of the spring semester of my junior year of college. I had long since given up my search and was now focusing on nothing more than getting my degree and finishing school. I enjoyed taking classes that had nothing to do with my major, though. One could only take so many English classes before one loses ones mind and begins to fantasize about stabbing oneself in the eye with a pencil. This semester I was breaking up the monotony with a class in South American history.

When I entered the classroom there was only about three other students there. It was one of the smaller rooms, which made the class size roughly thirty people. Rules of etiquette stated that if there are twenty-seven other seats empty you do not sit right next to someone, but I had to sit in a certain spot in the class room.

I liked to be front and center. Most shy people would always hang towards the back of the classroom, but I had discovered that the front was really the best place to be. Teachers tended to not call on the students in the front row as often, assuming that they had no choice but to pay attention. And in the occasion that a teacher would call on me the only people who would be able to see my blush would be the teacher and the people on either side of me. If you were answering questions in the back people tended to turn around in their seats.

There were six columns of desks in the classroom, creating two center rows. A guy that I did not know occupied the front desk of the middle right row, and I was forced to take the seat to his left.

He didn't look up at me as I sat down, most people would glance up in the hopes of knowing the person next to them, but not him. His eyes were glued to a rather thick paperback book, the spine of which had been tapped back together with scotch tape, the title unreadable.

I pulled my binder out of my backpack and sighed, waiting for the teacher to arrive. Normally I would carry a book with me to prevent situations of boredom, but I had not brought one that day. Taking all English classes you begin to recognize people and conversations come pretty easily, even to the shy. It was the first day back after winter break and I had known that there would be catching up to do with my fellow classmates, so I hadn't bothered to bring anything to read. What I had forgotten was that I didn't know anybody in the History department. And I was terrible at beginning conversations.

I glanced at the boy sitting next to me. He looked tall and gangly. He looked lost in the large sweater that he wore. His copper colored hair stuck out in every direction making it appear as though he had just gotten out of bed. His face stuck me as odd. Most boys that looked like him had acne covered faces that were still round and childlike. This boy's face reminded me of a Greek sculpture that I had seen in my roommate's Art History book. His skin was as almost paler than mine, but didn't appear sallow, more like carved alabaster.

His eyes were a dark green, like emeralds. Even in the florescent lighting they seemed to sparkle. Then I realized that in order for me to be looking into his perfect eyes, they must have been looking back at me. I realized that he was staring at me, not in an interested way. He was staring at me because I was staring at him. His face looked blank of expression. I quickly looked the other way and he went back to his book as though nothing had happened.

I could feel my face hot with embarrassment. I made an attempt to focus on the map of Brazil on the wall until the blood had dissipated from my cheeks. I thought of saying something to him. What would I say? "Sorry I just ogled you"? That would never do.

The class filled in quickly and before long the teacher walked in. She was a young woman in her mid thirties. She was very excitable and passionate about what she was teaching. As she took role she wrote all of our names down on a seating chart. "I hope you all like your seats," she explained, "because you are stuck with them for the rest of the semester. I'm terrible with names and this will at least allow me to pretend I know who you are. You will also be working in partners quite often so I hope you like the person you are sitting next to."

People's heads turned from one side to the other, attempting to figure out which person they would be stuck with. I refused to move my head, fearing eye contact again. I was sure to turn red again if I locked eyes with the statue sitting next to me.

Without any more explanation she quickly moved on to the syllabus and explaining the rest of the class. With a quick "read chapter one in your textbooks," she dismissed us for the day.

I rushed to my next class and settled into my seat. I was just getting ready to bang my head against the table when Alice, my best friend and roommate glided into the room. She was a dance major, but had decided to take the poetry class with me for fun. I was relived to see her smiling face.

"How were your classes?" she beamed at me.

I took a deep breath before I answered her, taking the time to imagine all of the worse things that could have happened. I could have been staring with my mouth open. I could have said something really embarrassing. I could have blushed so much that my face could have caught on fire. Spontaneous combustion would have been a lot worse. "It was all right, I guess. No catastrophes. You?"

She pouted. "There are never any straight guys in any of my classes."

I resisted the urge to say, "That's what you get for being a dance major." I turned in my seat to examine the few males seated behind us. They were dressed in all black in the typical "emo" fashion that one would find in a poetry class. "How about them?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "I think that I just wasn't destined to meet the man I will love at this school."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. Alice was always talking about her destiny. Thankfully she was not one of those girls who read her horoscope everyday or attempted to tell her future with badly illustrated tarot cards, but Alice was a firm believer that the future had specific plans for her. One action always led to another.

She was beginning to worry that maybe she had chosen the wrong school and that she would never meet the man of her dreams. "But then I never would have met you," she would always say when she tried to justify her choice of schools. "I knew the moment I saw you that we were supposed to be friends. You are going to be a big part of my life in some way or another."

I tended to tune Alice out when she went on like this. The only thing I believed that I was destined for was to blush and trip a lot.

"See you later?" I asked as we walked out of class. Alice and I shared an apartment together just outside of the school, but sometimes she would go out with some of the girls from her classes. She had other friends. I didn't.

"I think so," she nodded. "No plans were made in Ballet and I doubt that anyone is going to want to go out after Jazz."

"So you'll be home in a few hours?" I hated it when Alice went out. Evenings spent alone were rarely fun for me.

She smiled up at me. "Count on it."

I was only taking three classes that semester, so I was done for the day. I headed out to the parking lot. I paused by my old rusty truck to fish my keys out of my backpack and when I looked up I saw the guy from my history class walk right past me.

I ducked behind the hood of my car, but I doubted that he would have noticed me anyway. He didn't seem like he was paying any attention to anything except the path to his own vehicle.

Once he was safely past me I jumped in the cab and got out of there as quickly as possible for someone who drives as slowly as I do.

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**Show of hands, how many people have had this happen on the first day of class? No plot as of yet, sorry. It takes a while to establish.**

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	2. Frustration

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the rights to Twilight, but Stephenie Meyer doesn't own the rights to the names "Edward" and "Bella"

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**Chapter 2**

**Frustration**

"Partners will be, these two rows, these two rows," our teacher put her hands down on my desk and the desk of the boy that I had stared at, "and these two rows. Every day I will give you an assignment like this," She began passing out a half sheet of paper to all the partners. "Everyday you and your partner will answer four questions on the previous nights reading. These questions will come up again in the lectures. These quizzes are worth twenty percent of your grade so I suggest that you work together. Normally I would only give you ten minuets, but today I'll give you an extra five to get to know each other." She looked at us all expectantly. "Get to it!"

The room immediately was filled with a buzz of low talking and the squeaking of chairs as several partners leaned across the aisle. I turned to the guy next to me; he was flipping to the first chapter of the book.

"I'm Bella," I smiled. I tired not to focus on my previous embarrassment and just be nice. If I forgot about it then it wouldn't matter. He obviously didn't care.

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Edward."

So much for introductions. I tried desperately to think of something else to say. I gave up quickly. I was about to ask him if I could take a look at the questions when he turned to me with a hard look.

"Did you read the chapter?" His voice sounded doubtful.

"Yes," I said almost a little angry. "Do I look like I didn't?" I shouldn't have snapped at him, but he was kind of rude.

"Sorry," he muttered, turning back to the book. "I'm used to always being stuck with people who do nothing."

I knew the feeling so I could understand where he was coming from which made it harder for me to be irritated by him. "Well, I'd be happy to do my part if you let me look at the questions." I held out my hand for the sheet of paper.

He blankly handed it to me and went back to turning pages. I glanced over the questions, fairly easy if you had done the reading.

"Do you want to split them up or work together?" he asked.

Even though he was annoying me I replied, "I think the idea was for us to work together."

"Fine," he said just as emotionlessly. "Do you want to write, or shall I?"

I shrugged. "You probably should. I have the handwriting of a six year old boy."

That earned me a half smirk. I would have been pleased that he found my comment amusing except for the fact that it was at my expense.

After I had answered the whole first question without even glancing at my book Edward seemed a little nicer. His personality didn't really invite people in. He was not the kind of person that you could just talk to. From the fifteen minuets of interaction that we had I could tell that Edward liked things very ordered and didn't want to bother with people who he thought was going to waste his time. Part of me doubted that Edward had many friends.

The thought that he was a lonely person made me sad. Despite his earlier rudeness I felt a very strong pull towards him. It was obvious that I found him attractive judging by my display the previous class period. He was very smart as well. I became determined to know more about this person. Edward had quickly become an enigma, a puzzle that I had to solve. I could not give up easily.

As the class ended I gave him a smile and a cheerful, "See you next time."

He only looked at me and nodded blankly. This was not going to be easy.

********

My car door slammed behind me. I rushed through the maze of cars that filled the student parking lot. I had not heard my alarm that morning and had been woken up by Alice ten minuets later than I normally would have gotten out of bed. Although I had plenty of time to get to class, the change in my schedule made me nervous.

I tried to rush across the crosswalk, fearing that students later than I was would decide it would be faster to run me over with their cars than to just wait. I shouldn't have rushed; moving quickly is a bad idea for clumsy people. I tripped on the curb and felt gravity pull me down to the Earth's surface.

I cringed, waiting for impact, but was surprised to find myself above the ground. It took me a moment to realize that a pair of arms was wrapped around my waist, preventing me from crashing into the concrete.

The arms pulled me back up to my feet. Once released, embarrassed, I turned to thank my savior. Edward was staring at me with that famous blank look on his face.

Fire flashed across my cheeks. In the last two weeks I had begun to find myself more and more attracted to my history partner. The last thing I would have wanted him to see was me tripping over my own feet.

"Thanks Edward," I mumbled into my chest.

He shrugged. "You were falling," was his only explanation.

I tugged on my clothes, trying to arrange myself in a much more attractive way. "It wouldn't be the first time," I shrugged back. A nervous giggle escaped me.

Edward looked at me. His face never seemed to show emotion. No matter what was going on around him Edward's face remained as blank as the stone carving that he looked so similar to. "You fall down often?" His words came out sounding like a doctor's line of questioning.

"Yes," I blushed some more.

He looked me over for a moment. "It might be an inner ear problem."

I really had no idea how to respond to that statement. Was he trying to be helpful or was he teasing me? Either way he wasn't doing a very good job.

"Thanks?"

He shrugged. "Either that or you need to pay more attention to where you are walking."

He started to walk to his class. I made a split second decision to try to keep up with him. Edward's legs were much longer than mine and I feared tripping again as we walked through campus. The route he took was the long way to my class, but I didn't notice. My head was to busy trying to come up with something to say. As far as I knew all Edward and I had to talk about was history class. Save history class for history class. Edward began to veer off toward the music building just as it was becoming imperative for me to head in the other direction.

"I'll see you in class," I smiled at him. Keep it simple and friendly.

He looked startled for a moment, as though he had just realized that I had been walking next to him all that time. He gave me a tight-lipped smile and held up his hand. The gesture could have been a wave if it hadn't been so stiff and forced looking.

I sighed with frustration as soon as he was out of sight. I needed to find something in common with this person if I had any chance of having a real conversation with him.

********

"Thank you again for catching me," I said as I slid into my desk.

Edward was drawing on the brown paper that he had used to cover his history book. He was the only person that I had known since high school that still covered their textbooks.

"I would have done the same for anyone," he said, more focused on his doodling then on me.

I heaved a sigh. No matter what I tired to do, Edward was always the same. Edward looked up at me, startled by the loud noise I made. I smiled weakly at him and lay my head down on my desk.

It was time to consider giving up. This puzzle didn't want to be solved, like a rubix cube that wouldn't turn and all the pieces were stuck together. I sighed again, more quietly this time. There was no way I was going to crack Edward.

Accepting defeat I pulled my binder out of my backpack. Edward did the same. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted something familiar. Shoved into the plastic covering of his binder was a yellow flyer that was identical to the one I had on my corkboard at home.

For a moment I considered asking him about it. After all, a topic of conversation was a topic of conversation. But instead I decided not to mention it and simply let a few of the pieces fall into place on their own.

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**So this was originally two chapters, but I decided that it was too short. **

**Edward is a pain in this story. He doesn't like people very much. He kind of made me angry at first. Hmm...I guess I can't complain. That is how I wrote him after all. **

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	3. A New Hope

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Twilight, nor do I own Star Wars. (Just in case you were wondering)

_Italics_ is Bella's thoughts.

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**Chapter 3**

**A New Hope**

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me when Alice came out of her room. She looked dressed and ready for a party.

Alice was always the pinnacle of fashion and liked to show it. She was not vain about her looks; she just liked to be dressed well. I took in the clothes that would have been better suited to a nightclub and compared them to my own.

I was just wearing the same old jeans, a t-shirt with The Beatles logo on it, my old ratty converse and my long hair tied back in its usual ponytail. In short, I was dressed the exact same as I dressed everyday of the week.

"Don't you think that you are a little over dressed?" I asked, trying to be kind.

Alice pouted. "But you never know who I might meet tonight! If I do happen to meet _him_ then I want to look nice."

"Alice," I laughed at my tiny little friends sulking face. "You are so pretty. And when you meet the guy that you are going to be with then he will think you are beautiful whether you are dressed like that, dressed like me, or in you pink flannel pajamas and bunny slippers. The right guy wont care."

Alice smiled up at me. "Just the same I'm staying dressed like this."

"Fine," I muttered as I slung my button and patch covered messenger bag over my shoulder. "But be prepared to stick out like a sore thumb."

We arrived at the theater half an hour early. Alice would have been happy waltzing in at the last possible second, but I wanted good seats.

The town we lived in had two movie theaters. One was a large Cineplex with roughly twelve screens and had everything commercial. The theater we were at was much older. It had one very large screen and an only ever played movies that were going to sell out in the other theater, or older films.

I smiled at the marquee that read "Friday Night: Star Wars Marathon," in large block letters. Alice rolled her eyes at me. She liked Star Wars fine, but she could never manage to get as excited about it as I did.

As I suspected, Alice stuck out quite a bit. Truthfully, so did I. There was not a ton of girls there. The audience was mostly made up of guys around our age. The few females that were there were all dressed like me. The guys were to, just jeans and t-shirts with band logos or super hero emblems on them. I chuckled at the number of guys who had brought their plastic light sabers that made crashing noises when you banged them against things.

The theater was by no means full. This event was not going to be a huge draw. Alice and I stood in the back of the theater looking around. Alice was very concentrated on finding the right seat, so was I.

In movie theaters I liked to sit exactly in the middle, the perfect distance from the screen and not too close to the speakers. But tonight I was looking from something a little different.

"Let's sit back here," I motioned to the back row of seats.

Alice gave me a queer look. "Really, are you sure?" She knew how picky I was about where I was situated in a room.

I glanced down the rows again. "Yes."

The back row was completely empty, much to my satisfaction. Alice tired to sit in the center seats, but I wouldn't let her.

"I want to sit here," I muttered quietly, taking the seats that were offset to the right a bit. Alice rolled her eyes and sat down on my right.

I was glad that she had no idea why I wanted to sit here. If she had known that Edward was sitting directly in front and one seat to the left of me then she would have made me talk to him. I had been smart to not mention Edward to Alice at all.

Edward was deep in conversation with the person sitting to his left. I did not recognize the tall blond guy, but anyone could tell that these two were good friends.

They both laughed at something and I saw Edward smile. An actual, genuine smile. My heart raced. He looked so much more attractive when he smiled. I wished that he would smile at me like that sometime.

Alice gave me a weird look just as the lights went low.

There was a lot of cheering and whooping. Many of the plastic light sabers were waved around in the air as the familiar music filled the theater and the words "Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope" flew across the screen in yellow writing. I relaxed into my seat, bracing my feet against the back of the chair in front of me.

I tired to focus on the movie, but was too distracted by Edward. His eyes glowed with the reflection of the movie screen. A smile was plastered on his face. Every so often he would jab his friend in the side and they would both laugh at something. Occasionally I knew what they were laughing at, the storm trooper wearing tennis shoes, the dice hanging in the Millennium Flacon, and I could share in their amusement.

When we got to the scene that had been reedited to look like Han had only shot because he was shot at everybody booed loudly, a few people threw popcorn at the screen. There was some nervous giggling when Leia kissed Luke; we all knew how that would turn out. There was much cheering when the Death Star was finally blown up at the end.

After the credits rolled the lights came back up. The theater management was giving us ten minuets to buy more candy from them. Alice liked that idea and bounced out of her seat, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

It was several minuets before I realized that Edward was also alone. His friend must have gone out to. Taking a deep breath I leaned forward and poked him in the shoulder.

He turned around, a startled look in his eyes.

"Hey Edward," I smiled brightly.

"Hi." I got that stiff wave again. "What are you doing here?" Wow, an actual question, like he was interested in me.

"Oh, I love Star Wars," I answered truthfully. "I've been waiting for this thing for almost a month." _And I am definitely not stalking you_, I added in my head. _Not at all. _

This earned me a slight smile. I resisted the urge to dance in my seat. He smiled at me! I had made him smile.

Both our heads jerked to the left when we heard our friends approaching. Edward's friend looked even taller in comparison to the tiny little Alice. She chipperly talked to him as they walked down the parallel aisles. He looked nervous by Alice's attention, but could not take his eyes off of the little pixie.

"Bella, this is Jasper," Alice squeaked at me. I knew that look in her eyes. She had just met someone special.

Jasper smiled kindly at me and waved, I returned the gesture.

Jasper tossed a box of Red vines to Edward, who caught them easily. Alice knew better and handed me an identical box.

"You two know each other," Alice pointed back and forth between Edward and I.

"Yes," I shrugged, trying to be a blasé as possible. "Edward and I are partners in history class."

Alice saw through my mask of indifference immediately. I saw a split second reaction before she composed herself. "Hi Edward, I'm Alice." She stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Edward took her hand cautiously, as though he was afraid that it might come off. "Hello."

Alice took the seat to my left this time so that she was sitting right behind Edward; an arms reach away from Jasper. The blond had turned around in his seat and Alice leaned forward so the two could mutter to each other. Edward and I both went back to silence. I tried to think of something else to say, but gave up when the theater went dark again.

I watched him again throughout the entire second movie. He was leaning forward, elbows on his knees and his chin resting on his folded hands. He looked rather thoughtful the whole time. At first I had thought that he was leaning forward in an attempt to get as far away from me as possible, but only after an hour into "The Empire Strikes Back" did I realized that he was leaning forward to get as far away as possible from Alice and Jasper's hushed conversation that was still taking place next to me.

The lights came back on for another ten minuets and Alice and Jasper continued to talk. I let my mind wander to a place that didn't involve Edward so I wouldn't stare at him.

I jumped when Alice tapped me on the shoulder. "Bella," she smiled at me. "Would you mind if Jasper sat back here with me so we could talk?"

"Sure," I shrugged. "I don't care."

"Why don't you sit with Edward?" she suggested. "That way he isn't alone."

I glanced at Edward who was looking back at me with a blank expression. He shrugged to let me know that he didn't care either way.

"Okay," I smiled. Alice wanted to be alone, but she was also trying to get me closer to Edward. Annoying little pixie.

I got up and headed towards the end of the row.

"Where are you going?" Alice laughed at me.

"To the other side," I pointed. _Cuz I'm a chicken_._ Ha ha. _

"Just climb over." As she said this Jasper easily hopped over the row of seats and landed next to her. He gave me an encouraging smile.

"Okay." This was going to end badly.

I tried to climb over the seats, but my total lack of coordination made things difficult. I tumbled over the row of chairs but was surprised to land on my feet. Edward had caught me again. He must have assumed that I would fall on my face and stood up just in time to catch me.

The last time he caught me he had just barely grabbed me, leaving a good foot of space between us. This time I seemed to have stumbled directly into him. My hands were braced on his chest and I was pressed completely into him. His arms were wrapped tightly around my waist. He felt stronger than he looked in that bulky sweater.

I blinked up at him and turned red, of course. His magnificent green eyes sparkled but his look was blank. Once I was steady he set me down on my feet and took his hands away. I almost complained but then realized that it would be weird if I were upset that he stopped touching me.

I blushed furiously as I took the empty seat in front of the one that I had previously occupied. I turned in my seat to tell Alice to never let me try to do something that involved coordination again in public and she was smirking at me, almost like she had planned the whole thing. She knew that I would fall. Did she know that he would catch me? The thought left me unsettled.

I pulled my bag into my lap and hugged it as though it were a teddy bear. Thankfully the momentary need for a security blanket passed as the last movie started.

This time I could not stare at Edward. I had no choice but to focus on the movie. But it was difficult. I became hyperaware of him sitting so close to me. I could almost feel this electric current flowing into and out of me as I sat next to him in the dark. But my eyes never left the screen.

He seemed unaffected by my presence. He sat casually as though no one else was in the theater, let alone sitting right next to him. He took no notice of me. He just watched the movie.

The first time we saw Wicket on Endor I squeaked with joy and jumped in my seat. I heard a laugh on my left side and turned to look at Edward. He was shaking his head and rolling his eyes, a playful smile on his face. "Girls always love the Ewoks," he muttered.

Without thinking I gently punched him in the arm, earning me another gentle laugh. The sound sent shivers up my spine.

As the Death Star blew up for the second time I had the feeling that Edward was looking at me. Why on Earth would he be looking at me? My blood pressure skyrocketed. I looked at him, only to realize that he was looking behind me. His eyes met mine in the dark and he nodded his head back as he turned to look back at the screen.

Behind us Alice had fallen asleep. She was curled into Jasper's chest. Jasper had both arms wrapped around her tightly and was watching her breath as she slept. The scene made my heart want to explode out of my chest.

I whipped my head back to the front, a large grin on my face. Edward caught my expression out of the corner of his eye and smiled to.

"That was fun," Alice chirped as we all stood up to leave. She had woken up during the credits and was pretending that she hadn't fallen asleep. "We should all go do something!"

"Alice," I complained, "it's getting late." I showed her my phone, letting her know that it was nearly eleven o'clock.

"Come on, Bella. Don't be boring. Let's go get ice cream!" She bounced at that idea. I wasn't to fond of the idea of her eating any more sugar.

"Fine," I sighed.

No one had to ask Jasper if he was coming, he looked at Alice as though they had been in a committed relationship for months. Jasper looked at Edward. As if reading his friend's mind Edward sighed in defeat as well.

Alice bounced with joy. We followed her across the street to a block of stores that were still open at eleven on a Friday night. Alice and Jasper went in but I begged off, saying that I was too cold for ice cream. Edward just shook his head without an explanation.

"Why don't you two meet us over in the park?" Alice suggested, giving me a meaningful look. "We'll meet you over by the play structure in a few minuets."

Edward and I crossed the street to the park. I tripped halfway across and Edward caught me by my arm as I stumbled. "You need to watch where you're going," he said blandly, releasing me the instant that I was steady.

"Either that or you could just follow me around everywhere," I suggested before I had time to stop the words leaving my mouth. I resisted the urge to smack my hand across my mouth and instead bit down on my lip hard. Edward gave me a strange look out of the corner of his eye and but didn't say anything.

The park looked eerie in the middle of the night. The swings moved back and forth on their own in the gentle February breeze. It looked like the opening scene from a slasher movie. Two unsuspecting college students alone in the park after dark. Cue the scary music and fog. Part of me wished that a man in a hockey mask wielding a chainsaw would show up just to break up the awkward silence that seemed to be following Edward and I around.

I sat down on the metal merry go round. It squeaked under my weight. I used my foot to push myself around in a circle. Edward watched for a moment then began to absentmindedly push the metal bars as they came around, allowing me to pick up my feet and just sit on the large metal disk.

Alice and Jasper approached us, looking giddy. Alice waved at me with her free hand bolted over to the swings, Jasper following closely behind.

Edward stopped pushing me and I spun around twice more before coming to a stop facing the swing set. Alice and Jasper were facing each other on the swings, heads close again. Both were smiling brightly at each other.

With a sigh Edward sat down on the merry go round with me. We watched as Alice shivered under the breeze. Seeing as she refused to bring a jacket anywhere Jasper was forced to pulled her over onto his lap to keep her warm.

I shivered as the breeze hit me. Unlike Alice, I brought a sweater everywhere. I pulled the old black sweater out of my bag and zipped it up, creating a barrier between the cold and myself.

"Forks High School?" Edward said.

It took me a moment to realize that he was referring to the stitching on my jacket that read "Forks High School, Washington."

"Yup," I nodded back. That's what the jacket said.

Edward shook his head. "You didn't go to Forks High School."

"No, I didn't," I admitted. I had grown up in Phoenix, far far away from Forks "Wait," I said a moment later, "how would you know that?"

"Because _I_ went there," Edward said blandly, as if I should have known this already. "Jasper and I grew up in Forks. My graduating class was under one hundred people, I think I would have noticed you."

Part if me doubted that statement. Edward didn't seem to notice anything that wasn't inside his bubble. It had taken me nearly a month to penetrate that bubble that he lived in and I had much more courage and patience then I did in high school. If we had gone to school together I probably wouldn't have bothered.

"My dad is the police chief," I tired to explain the jacket. I had found it lying around his house one day and since then it had become mine.

"Wait a minuet. You're Isabella Swan?" Edward pointed at me, a surprised look on his face.

"Uh huh," I responded. I was cringing. I had hoped to avoid this reaction.

"Jasper," Edward shouted. "This is Isabella _Swan_," he was still pointing at me.

I saw Jasper's eyes widen. "No way," Jasper shouted back.

Alice gave him a confused look and he began to explain to her quietly.

I was a legend in Forks. The only child of the police chief. I only came to visit him during the summers. Any time I was there I rarely left the house. When I did people always stared. When I had come up to Washington to go to school I had moved into my dad's house permanently so that all of my stuff would be closer. When I was home for the summer I took classes online as an excuse to not leave.

"I can't believe that I never met you before," Edward said.

"I don't get out much when I'm there," I muttered.

"You get out sometimes," he said, thoughtfully. "Otherwise you would miss your yearly visits with my dad in the emergency room."

"Oh god." My accidents were about as famous in Forks as I was. "Your father is Dr. Cullen." I recognized it now. Edward had the same face as his father.

Edward smiled. "Yeah, that's dad." We lapsed into silence for a minuet. "Didn't you get hit by a car last summer?" he asked out of the blue.

"Oh god," I moaned again, covering my face with my hands.

"You did, I remember. Dad said that if the car hadn't hit a fire hydrant first then you would have been paralyzed. Instead you only got a couple of bruises."

"Thank god for fire hydrants," I mumbled into my hands.

Edward laughed. "Maybe I was wrong about you having an inner ear problem. You seem to attract accidents."

"You sound like my dad," I muttered, pulling my hands away from my face. That was another reason I never left the house, bad things seemed to always happen.

"You were right, you do need someone to follow you around and make sure you don't hurt yourself."

I scowled at his comment but then hoped he might take me up on my offer. I had no problem with the idea of him staying with me, even if he was just waiting for something bad to happen to me.

We didn't talk anymore. There was plenty of things that I could have said or asked him, but I was tried and had accomplished more today than I had planned as far as Edward was concerned.

My phone beeped in my bag, startling me. I had a missed call from my mother.

"Alice, it's midnight. Can we please go home?"

Alice pouted at me, but extricated herself from Jasper's grasp. "I'll see you tomorrow night," she murmured to him. He smiled at her and played with a piece of her hair.

Edward stood up and started to walk away from me. "I'll see you on Monday," I called after him.

"See you in class," he agreed, although unenthusiastically, with a smile and a half wave.

Alice grumbled at me as we walked back to the car. I was listening to my mother's message, she had just realized that it was midnight and was apologizing for calling so late and couldn't remember the real reason why she had called in the first place. I rolled my eyes at my scatterbrained mother's nervous tittering and closed my phone.

"You better make this up to me," Alice was still grumpy that I insisted on going home. "And I know exactly how you are going to do it."

* * *

**Ooo, what's Alice going to make Bella do?**

**This was probably my favorite chapter to write. Something about them all watching Star Wars made me smile. Edward and Bella are both geeks, it _had_ to be Star Wars to bring them together (kinda). I actually brought them together. I just used Star Wars to do it. Anywho I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. The next one is going to be a tad shorter, but after that they are all around five pages. I'm just rambling now, so bye.**

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	4. Torture

**Disclamier:** I'm not a good enough author to get paid. Plus I don't have any original characters.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Torture**

"Alice no. I am not doing this," I whined.

The little pixie was staring at me angrily, both hands on her hips. "You promised last night."

"It was twelve thirty," I argued. "I was sleep deprived!"

"Sleep deprived or not, you said that you would do this for me. Plus, you know you want to." Alice waggled her eyebrows at me like the villain in vaudeville. For a moment I thought that being tied down to train tracks would be better then what Alice was asking me to do.

There was no way that I would have agreed to what Alice had asked me if I hadn't been as tired as I was. This was not the kind of thing that I would normally ever do and it made me feel really nervous.

She pouted at me and I caved. I always caved. Never get into an argument with a pixie, you will lose.

"Fine," I sighed.

Alice smiled and handed me the phone. I dialed the number, crossing my fingers that I would get the answering machine. On the second ring Alice pulled the phone out of my hand and put it on speaker phone.

"Alice!" I cried. I didn't exactly want her listening in, that would make me feel ever more awkward.

"I wont say anything," she promised, "but I want to hear this directly. I can't trust you to tell me everything he's going to say."

The phone picked up. "Hello?"

I sighed. "Hi dad."

"Bells!" his excitement made me feel bad. I didn't call him very often. "What's going on?"

"Not too much. I just found out yesterday that my partner in history class grew up in Forks. It made me think about you and that I should call home to see how you are doing."

"Really? Who is she?" Of course Charlie would assume that it was a girl. I never spoke to guys if I could help it.

"Actually it's Dr. Cullen's son, Edward," I said through gritted teeth.

"Oh Edward! Good kid. You couldn't ask for a better partner. Graduated top of his class if I remember correctly."

Alice gave me an approving look. I already knew that Edward was smart, I didn't need anyone to tell me that.

"Can't say that I knew him very well, which, really, is a good thing. He kept himself out of trouble. I only ever saw him once or twice a year at benefits for the hospital. He wasn't much of a talker but people would come from all over just to hear him play the piano. That boy could have gone to Juilliard but he wanted to be a History teacher. Good kid."

I smiled at Charlie's approving tone of voice. He wasn't fond of most of the kids out in Forks. If Charlie liked Edward then it was definitely a good thing.

Alice smiled at me again, but I could tell that she was getting impatient. I knew what she wanted to hear.

"I met a friend of his last night. Edward said they went to high school together. Tall and blond. Kind of quiet. What was his name? Jacob? James?"

Alice made a face at me. I shrugged. Those were the most generic male names that began with a "J" that I could think of.

"Jasper," Charlie answered.

I smirked at Alice. I didn't want my dad to think that I had called him to squeeze out any information and Charlie was the only person on the face of the Earth that believed my bad acting. I had to make him think that he was coming up with this stuff or else I would feel really guilty.

"Right, Jasper." I did my best to sound like I just remembered his name. I was laying it on a little thick, but it was working.

"Jasper Hale," Charlie whistled into the phone. "I'm glad those two are still friends. They were always close. I think Jasper graduated right under Edward, second in the class. Both really smart boys."

I returned Alice's approving look. She rarely dated smart guys, normally they were creepy idiots.

"I knew him even less than Edward. But those two boys were pretty close. Both played on the soccer team together. I saw them play a few times. They were pretty good. Always did everything together. It's no surprise that they ended up at the same school. I rarely ever saw one without the other."

I had trouble imagining Edward playing sports of any kind, but the police chief never lies.

Alice was smart to ask me to call Charlie. If you wanted to know something about a person who lived in Forks my dad was the one to call. He knew everybody's business, he wasn't nosy, it was just part of his job.

Charlie also liked to talk about people. Say someone's name and he would go on as long as he could about them.

But sadly he seemed to have no more to say about either of the guys and began to talk about this fish that he had caught that morning. Alice made a face and took the phone off of speaker phone, handing the hand held to me.

My way of thanking Charlie for the information he had unknowingly gave us was to listen to him talk about fishing for the next twenty minuets and then spend the next half an hour detailing everything that had happened with school so far this semester. As it was only three weeks in, not much had really happened.

When I hung up with my dad Alice bounced out of her room all dressed and ready for her date with Jasper.

"Am I forgiven?" I asked. Personally, I thought that I should have immunity to all things because I was the reason that Alice met Jasper in the first place.

"Mostly," she smiled. "Tomorrow we are going to spend some time talking about this Edward and coming up with a plan. Only after that will I forgive you." She winked at me and skipped out of the door.

That made me nervous. Alice's plans were always complicated and usually involved dangerous footwear. I never really had the courage to pull off any of Alice's plans, no matter what they were about.

I settled into my chair, content to spend the rest of the evening with Jane Austen and trying my hardest not to think about Edward.

* * *

**Sorry that there was no Edward in this chapter, and that it was so short. I needed a conduit for background information and it seems to usually come in the form of Charlie. It's going to start to get really good in the next chapter. Crazy fun stuff. Plus we finally get to meet Rose and Emmett. Yay! I miss them, they are fun and make me smile. :) Just like that. **

**Okay, I'm going to stop my jabbering now since there is really no point to it. **

**Thanks for reading! :)  
**


	5. D&D and I Never

**Disclaimer:** I cannot stress how much I do not own these characters.

Just in case you have forgotten, Bella's thoughts are in _italics_.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**D&D and "I Never"**

"Bella come on. It will be fun."

In the last few weeks Alice's definition of fun had changed drastically. "Fun" used to be nightclubs and parties. Now "fun" was…

"Dungeons and Dragons, Alice? Really? You are going to play Dungeons and Dragons?" That sounded much more like something I would do. And I didn't do it.

"Jasper says that I will pick it up really quickly. It's, like, his favorite thing, Bella. I want to be a part of that. Sure, it sounds a little weird for me, but I want to share Jasper's interests."

"Then go. Share. I have no problems with that." I waved her off. I knew what her real plan was.

"You are coming to," she insisted. I could hear the stubbornness in her voice. I wasn't going to win this one no matter how hard I tried.

"I'm not dating Jasper! I don't know how to play!" Truthfully I had always wanted to learn how to play but had never managed to find anyone who could teach me.

Alice gave me a hard look. "Bella, have you spoken to Edward once outside of class since we went to the movies?"

I didn't respond. She knew I hadn't. We had real conversations now, but they never left the classroom and everything was still a bit awkward. Edward was still really distant and at times could be a little rude. The only thing that had really changed was the frequency of our conversations.

The real reason I didn't jump at the chance to go with Alice was because this game would be taking place at Edward and Jasper's apartment. The idea of seeing Edward outside of class filled my stomach with nauseous butterflies.

"Jasper asked me to bring you," Alice tried again.

I gave into the argument that I knew I would never win. "Fine, but jeans and a t-shirt."

Alice put her hand over he heart. "Jeans and a t-shirt," she vowed.

********

Edward and Jasper lived in a nice area not to far from where Alice and I lived. We would have been able to walk if it had not been pouring rain.

Outside the apartment door, my butterflies were vomiting. Did Edward know that Jasper had asked Alice to ask me to come? What would he think about me just showing up at his apartment without any forewarning? Why couldn't I just stop over thinking things and just have let it be?

Alice knocked on the door. A girl who looked like she had crawled out of a Victoria's Secret catalogue opened it. She was perfectly proportioned and had long hair the color of gold. Aphrodite incarnate. When she answered the door she looked surprised for a moment.

"Alice?" she asked in delighted wonder.

"Rose," Alice squeaked. "What are you doing here?"

Rose moved out of the doorway so we could come inside. "I'm Jasper's older sister. And I'm assuming that you are the girl that he has been talking about nonstop for the last two weeks."

Alice grinned.

Rose smiled back and then sighed. "Well, I wish that I could tell you that I'm just here to meet you, but as much as I hate to say it, I'm here to play."

My face must have looked surprised. How many models do you know who spend their Saturday nights playing D&D?

"In high school Jasper and Edward made me play all the time," she explained. "I hated it then, but when I got here I began to miss it. When Jasper and Edward got here I made them set up a game once a month so that I could keep playing. I even got Emmett to start coming to." She motioned to a large bear of a person leaning against a bookshelf, deep in conversation with Jasper.

I recognized this Emmett as one of the varsity football players. The previous semester we had Physics together. Emmett was smart, but not good at remembering formulas. I had given him hand in studying for the final.

"Of course," Rose continued, "Emmett will play anything that involves competition." She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Rose looked at me politely for a moment before Alice realized that the two of us had no idea who the other was.

"Oh, Bella this is Rosalie. We dance together. Rose, this is Bella, my roommate."

"Of course," Rosalie shook my hand with one of her perfectly manicured ones. "Jasper and Edward told me that they finally met the famous Isabella Swan. I must admit that I was a bit jealous. I can't wait to tell mom and dad. They think you are a myth."

I flushed. I really hated being so famous, especially in a place that I didn't even live.

"Bella," Emmett said, clapping me on the shoulder. "I didn't expect to see you here tonight. What's up?"

I smiled nervously. Even though I had gotten to know Emmett as the smart and kind person that he was, his stature still intimidated me. "Hey, Emmett."

"You two know each other?" Rose asked.

"Bella saved my butt last semester in Physics," Emmett slapped me on the shoulder again, much harder than my small frame could handle. My knees buckled slightly but I managed not to fall over. "This girl is like, crazy smart."

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Wow, Bella. You really are famous."

I turned red before I even saw him. Just hearing Edward's voice from the hallway made me want to run back out the front door. Although, I had a sneaking suspicion that my knees weren't functional. If I had tried to run I would have fallen down before I took one step towards the door.

"Yup," my voice croaked as Edward joined us. "Everybody seems to know who I am. Lucky me." I laid the sarcasm on a little thicker than was necessary.

"Well what are we doing standing around here," Emmett said. "Let's play."

********

"That's it, I give up!" After an hour and a half Alice hadn't really gotten the hang of the game. There were too many rules, too much math and not enough opportunity for normal conversation.

Jasper smiled at her. "Are you sure? You're doing pretty well for your first time."

"That's cuz you're playing for her, Jazz," Edward said.

Alice gave Jasper an apologetic look. "It's not really my thing."

"Why don't we play something else," Rosalie stood up and began to clear the table. "Let's find something that Alice and Bella actually know how to play. We'll pick this up next month."

The only other game in the house was Apples to Apples. It was one of the party sets with enough cards for about thirty people to play of they wanted to. This game moved much quicker and brought about conversation easier. It also helped that everybody was good at the game. Apples to Apples was a hard game to be bad at.

"Emmett, c'mon, those don't even make sense," Rosalie whined.

"You're just upset cuz he threw out your card," Jasper grinned at her.

Rose's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Please explain to me how a _water bed _can be spicy?"

Everybody laughed. Emmett didn't like to play fair. He picked what he thought was the funniest. Jasper just laughed at her like she was missing something.

"At least mine was a food," she grumbled.

"Sushi isn't spicy, love," Emmett kissed Rose on the top of the head. She swatted at him, but still smiled.

Emmett examined the two cards he was holding. "I'm going to have to give it to Bella."

"Yes!" I cheered, triumphantly taking the green adjective card from him.

"Penguins!" Rose shrieked. "How can they be spicy?"

"Depends on how you cook them," I smirked at her, passing out the new red cards to everyone.

Rose had to laugh.

"My turn," Edward sighed and pulled out a green card. "Primitive."

Five hands slapped down on the table. Edward gathered up the red cards. He read them all to himself then lay each of them face up on the table. "Amputations. Horseback riding. Hair transplants. Creamed corn. And Swiss cheese."

Everybody immediately began to argue his or her case. Some of the arguments were funny. I attempted to imply that no civilized human being would eat creamed corn, but Edward wasn't buying it.

"Do you remember Mr. Richards hair plugs?" Rosalie said casually.

Edward's eyes got big and he slid the card across the table to Rose. She chuckled and added the card her growing pile.

When six people played you only needed six green cards to win. Emmett, Alice and Edward all had five cards and it was my turn to pick.

I pulled the green card off the top and smiled to myself. _This should be interesting_.

"Alluring," I carefully enunciated the word.

After a moments pause five cards were slapped face down on the table. I gathered them together and turned them face up on the table one by one.

"Michael Jackson. Alice, ew. Tree huggers," I shook my head at Rosalie. "Hiccups?" I asked Jasper who shrugged. "Emmett, Bagpipes?"

"What? I'm Scottish. It reminds me of my heritage," he joked.

"It reminds me of someone trying to feed a live cat to a duck," I muttered. Rosalie snorted in agreement.

I looked at the last card. Without even saying anything I tossed the green card over to Edward, who chuckled. I blushed.

"I win," Edward proclaimed, a smug smile on his face.

"What? What did he put?" Emmett grabbed the card from me. "Vampires?" He laughed, making me go redder. "Wow, Bella. I didn't think you were that kind of girl." He waggled his eyebrows.

"Rose, smack him for me," I asked kindly.

"With pleasure." She smacked on the back of his head.

Emmett rubbed the back of his head, pouting at Rose. "Ow."

"Don't pretend like you don't deserve it," Rose smiled at him sweetly.

Emmett glared at me and I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed.

"Alice, where did you find this girl?" Emmett pointed at me as I began to pick up the cards and put them back in the box. "Do you two dance together as well?"

I was about to respond, but Edward got there first. "Bella, dance? I don't think so," he laughed. "Bella is far too clumsy to be any kind of a dancer."

The room got quiet. Edward went on picking up cards, completely unaware in the change of atmosphere.

I stood there, staring at him for a moment. "Excuse me," I muttered and rushed out the door before anyone could even think of stopping me.

I tripped on my way down the stairs. As I caught myself on the banister my tears threatened to spill over. I was grateful that the rain had let up. It was late and rather cold outside. I had left my jacket in the apartment.

Once I had reached the bottom of the stairs I had decided that I was not leaving. I just needed to moment to collect my thoughts. True, Edward's response was almost the exact one that I had been prepared to give Emmett, but for some reason it sounded so much more hurtful coming from him.

_Well, he has watched you fall a fair few times_, part of me reasoned. _He's caught you to. Maybe he deserves the right to be able to call you clumsy._

I wrapped my arms tighter around myself. _It was just an observation,_ I told myself. _He didn't mean anything by it. Anybody can see that you're clumsy. Why should it hurt more coming from him?_

"Bella?"

I whirled around. Edward was standing on the stairs, watching me pace back and forth across the parking lot.

"Oh, hi. I'm just—," I looked around. For a wild moment I wished that I smoked just so I had a good reason to be outside in the cold.

Edward walked down the rest of the steps and over to me. He handed me my jacket. "It's kind of cold out here," he said kindly.

"Thanks," I mumbled, putting it on.

"Listen, Bella," he began. "I know at times I can be a little—" he fished for a word. He was staring at the concrete between his feet like the word he was looking for was scrawled on the sidewalk in chalk.

"Tactless?" I helped.

Edward smiled. "I guess. It's nicer than what Rose just called me anyway." He sighed and sat down on the bottom step. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," I brushed it off. "You didn't mean anything by it." It did feel better to hear him finally apologize, though.

"I'm glad you realized that Bella, but I wasn't just apologizing for what I said just now. I was apologizing for the way I've treated you since we first met." He looked up at me and gave me a sad smile.

I looked into Edward's eyes. For the first time ever I felt like he was really looking back at me. He was allowing me to see a part of him, something that he had never done before. Edward was telling me his true feelings about something.

"Anybody up there can tell you that I am not a people person." Edward shook his head. His eyes were wide and distant, but I had never felt closer to him. "I've never been very good at talking to other people. Rose and Jasper are just used to me out of habit. I don't realize it when I say something inappropriate. And I admit that I've been ruder to you than I have to most girls." He looked ashamed to admit this.

"Why?" I asked. I couldn't help but feel hurt.

"Girls are always trying to talk to me," he shrugged. "I am aware that I am attractive. Girls always want my attention. They want to talk to me and flutter their eyelashes at me. It's nauseating. It never seems to stop. But what's worse is if I talk to them, if I give them a chance to get to know me—they just leave. They don't want to talk to the nerdy guy. They don't want to date the guy who plays Dungeons and Dragons and goes to Star Wars marathons. They have no interest in a guy that has gone to Comic Con every year since he was twelve. I got sick of it, so I just started blocking those people out."

I was shocked. I had seen Edward get attention from the other girls in our class. I hadn't realized that his hostility was supposed to be some kind of warding device. Edward had been hurt by the way these girls treated him.

"Then you came along," he continued. "Smart, pretty. I hate to say it, but I figured that you were just like they were. I wanted you to be different, but I was afraid of you being the same. Every time you tried to get closer I would just put up another roadblock for you. You were willing to put with all of my crap just to get closer to me. And here you are. You are just to good to be true, you know that Bella?"

I was glad it was dark. I didn't want him to see just how badly I was blushing. _He had called me pretty. _No guy had ever called me pretty before. _I_ was different than all those other girls. _I_ was too good to be true. He had _wanted_ me to be different. I did my best to contain a shriek.

"Bella," Edward's voice broke me out of my reverie. "I now that it wouldn't make up for the way that I've treated you, but do you think that we could drop all the pretense and just agree to be friends?"

My heart fell slightly. _Friends?_ I had hoped that he had been working up to something else. A marriage proposal perhaps?

I sighed. No, he just wanted to be friends with me. I had read too much into his words. Edward was looking at me, but not with the insecure look of someone who had just revealed their heart. Nope, not for Bella. This perfect man just wanted to be friends. Well, I could live with that.

I smiled at him and nodded. "I think I can handle that."

Edward smiled brightly and stood up. "We'd better get back inside." He looked up at the sky. "It's going to start raining again any moment."

Edward held open the apartment door for me. When I walked in Alice gave me a hard stare. I shook my head at her. She deflated slightly. I knew that she was already attempting to come up with another plan.

"Hey you guys," Emmett called from his sitting position on the floor next to the coffee table. "Get your butts over here."

"What are we doing now?" I asked at I sat down next to him, Edward sitting on my other side.

I pondered the six shot glasses sitting on the table, my head cocked to the side.

Emmett grinned hugely at me and waved a bottle filled with amber colored liquid in my face. "We're playing 'I Never.'"

* * *

**Long author's note, because I like to ramble about this chapter. **

**So, as you probably guessed, I know nothing about how to play D&D. I'd like to learn, but at the moment have no knowledge whatsoever, thus skipping over the finer points (or any points) of the game. Plus, even if I did, I probably wouldn't have put too much in, because well, it's kinda boring when you aren't the one playing it. **

**As I wrote the Apples to Apples part I actually just pulled random cards out of the deck, thus the strange answers. I actually pulled the 'vampire' card, no joke, and though 'this is perfect!' I believe that I even did a little dance because it worked so well.**

**So know we know about Edward's past. I know it's kind of lame reason for being a jerk, but Edward will never be good with girls. This was actually inspired by a friend of mine who is incredibly attractive (our codename for him was Adonis) and pretty geeky. Girls were always hitting on him, but could never have a conversation with him because they just didn't care about Star Wars as much as he did. In fact, his pestering was the only reason I watched it in the first place. But yeah, because of that he did develop quite an aversion to girls. Not in a jerky Edward way, but in more of a I'm going to be awkward and really quiet now way. Edward's awkward wave is also based off of him to. Yeah, geeky guys are silly. **

**So, sorry to end with a cliffhanger. Yeah, you're just going to have to wait and see what happens once Emmett gets some alcohol into Bella. ;)**

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	6. The Morning After

**Disclaimer:** I wish I owned Twilight, but not so much.

So we left Bella with Emmett and alcohol. What will happen next?...Read On!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**The Morning After**

I awoke with a start. Fear rushed through me as I took in my surroundings. I had no idea where I was.

_Calm down Bella,_ I said to myself. _Relax_.

I took a moment to gather as much information as possible. I was in a strange room that I had never been in before. I had a massive headache and the clock in the corner of the room told me that it was almost ten thirty. I was still wearing all of my clothes. I lifted up the blanket that I as wrapped in just to be sure, the only thing that had been removed were my sneakers.

The room I was in was rather simple. Plain white walls and boring curtains. The walls were lined with shelves, which were overflowing with books and CDs. An open laptop was sitting off on a desk and in the far corner stood an old battered upright piano, sheet music crammed into the bench.

Part of the night came back to me. I remembered the games. I remembered having a conversation with Edward. And then I remembered Emmett waving a bottle in my face.

I groaned. As a rule I did not drink. I knew my mother had a low tolerance for alcohol, which I shared with her. I did my best to avoid the institution.

It became clear to me that I must have been in Edward's room and I suffering from a hangover. I buried my face in my hands.

"Sleeping Beauty awakes."

I looked up to see Edward smiling at me from the door. I was so embarrassed that my brain didn't ever register that he had just called me Beauty.

"How are we doing this morning?" he asked me, a teasing smile on his face.

"My head hurts," I muttered.

"I thought it would." He handed me two baby aspirin and a glass of water. He sat down on his desk and watched me as I tossed back the pills.

"How bad was I last night?" I asked him, afraid to look him in the eyes.

He laughed softly. "You were pretty interesting."

Interesting could mean a lot of things. It could mean that I became incredibly intelligent and figured out a way to solve world hunger. It could me that I told Edward just how much I liked him. It could mean that I attempted to molest him. It could mean that I _succeeded_ in molesting him.

"How bad?" I asked again. I needed a clearer definition.

"Well," he thought for a moment. "What was the last thing you remember?"

I remembered Emmett explaining to me how this game was different than the version I had played back when I was eleven. This was the adult version. In the kid version every time you had done something that the person said you put a finger down. In the adult version you took a shot.

The content was also much more mature. I remembered Emmett starting us off with "I have never had a sexual fantasy set in a library or bookstore." We weren't starting out easy I had thought to myself as I blushed and tossed my first shot back. I remembered that Edward had done the same, which made me smile. A couple of questions into the game things began to get a little hazy.

"I don't really remember much after you said that you've never held hands with a girl."

Edward's ears turned red but his face stayed totally natural. "That was pretty early on," he informed me. "You still had a ways to go."

"How did I drink so much?" I asked. "I've never done anything!" I was embarrassed by the thought that I might have confessed to doing something that I had, in fact, not done.

"Yeah, I know. Emmett was kind of cheating. Saying things like 'I have never not had sex.' He was using a ton of double negatives to get you drunk."

I groaned into my hands. At least Edward still saw me as innocent as I was. I didn't want to him to think that I was more experienced than I actually was.

"He was also giving you about twice as much as everybody else," Edward admitted. "I tried to stop it, but Emmett wasn't letting up. He actually got you to the point where you were taking shots before anybody had even said anything."

I swore. And then I began to remember the night of my twenty-first birthday. It had been the first and last time that I had ever had any alcohol. That night hadn't gone very well.

"Did I throw up?" I cringed, waiting for an answer.

"No," Edward shook his head. "I got a couple of glasses of water in you before you passed out."

"What about Alice?" I asked. If I was still here then where was she?

"She stayed to. Neither of you were in any shape to drive last night. She stayed with Jasper and I slept out on the couch."

I rubbed my temples. "Remind me to kill Emmett if I ever see him again."

Edward smiled. "Think of it this way, last night you made a few new friends, and now you never have to worry about embarrassing yourself in front of them."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically. "That's really what I needed to hear." I swung my legs out of the bed and stood up. "Where's Alice? Is she still here?"

Edward looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah, she and Jasper are out in the kitchen."

When I went out to the kitchen I discovered the reason for Edward's embarrassment. Alice was dancing around the kitchen, humming to herself; wearing nothing but a plain white t-shirt that was so big on her it fell to her knees.

She smiled brightly at me. "Hey, you finally joined the land of the living."

I found my shoes under the kitchen table. "I'm heading home. I can't take the embarrassment. You stay, I'll walk. I need the air. You are going to tell me _everything_ when I get home."

Alice smiled goofily at me.

I usually didn't care to hear about Alice's escapades, but I decided that if I had succeeded in alienating Edward the night before, then I was going to need all of the vicarious relationship stories that I could get.

I pulled on my jacket and found my bag. I walked back to Edward's room to say goodbye. He was sitting on the bed where I had just been sleeping. He looked deep in thought.

"Edward." He looked up at me and smiled. I was still too embarrassed to notice. "I'm going to head home. I'm leaving you with an Alice infestation. Sorry."

Edward stood up. "Do you want me to drive you?" He looked eager and apprehensive but I was too embarrassed to notice.

"No." I needed to get away from him before I found something even more horrifying to do. "I want to walk. It's not too far."

As I walked down the street I began to think that turning Edward down might have been the wrong thing to do. I had gone over our conversation several times in my head in order to deduce his reaction to my inebriation. He had been kind, there had been no sarcasm in his words, and he had been understanding. He spoke as if what had happened to me could have happened to anyone. He didn't find my display as uncivilized as I did.

My brain finally clicked into some of his words. The fact that he had called me "Beauty." The way he had blushed when I mentioned that he had never held hands with a girl before. Well, we may not have held hands, but he did have a rather drunk girl in his bed last night. Of course, he wasn't in it, but that was beside the point.

I vaguely remembered saying that I had never slept in a member of the opposite sex's bed. I guessed that I could cross that one off the list. I hadn't been specific about the details. I assumed that passing out and being carried there still counted.

By the time I arrived home I still hadn't made up my mind whether I should have been embarrassed or not. I had every reason to never want to show my face again, as far as I was concerned, but Edward's reaction to me didn't fill me with the horror that had always been implied with the thought of Drunken Bella. It all seemed so normal and understandable. Weird.

********

Alice had come home late Saturday afternoon. I didn't want to pressure her, but I needed to know what had happened the night before from someone who wasn't going to lie to me to keep me from being embarrassed.

"Alice, I need to know what happened last night. What I said, what I did, how I got into Edward's bed, anything that you can remember. Please, the fact that I don't know is killing me." I'll admit that I was being a little over dramatic but I needed Alice to understand that this was important. I couldn't let her brush me off.

Alice sat down on the couch clasping a cup of tea in her hands. "Well, you really weren't that bad Bella. Maybe a little silly, but—"

"Let's start easy," I decided that I was never going to get the answers I wanted unless I prompted her. "What did I say in the game?"

Alice thought for a few moments. "Nothing too bad. In fact, if you hadn't been drinking twice as much as we were you would have won. You took us out. Things like, 'I've never been kissed,' and 'I've been in a relationship.' The only person you weren't forcing to drink every time was Edward. He's just as bad as you are." Alice rolled her eyes. "Made for you, I tell you."

"What other things did Edward do? Or not do?" I wished that I could remember what he had admitted to. That had been a chance to learn more about him and I blew it by being utterly intoxicated.

"Well, aside from never having a girlfriend and never being kissed, Edward admitted to fantasizing about one or more fictional characters, but don't be think that it's weird because you did to, as did Jasper. He, uh, has never had a girl that wasn't Rose over to his house, his parent's house. Nor had any girl other than Rose ever been introduced to his parents." Alice shrugged again, shaking her head. "That's all I can remember. Edward is pretty boring."

"Boring like me," I smiled. Edward and I were the same, both innocent and inexperienced. "Okay, how about my interactions with him? What did I say and do? Please tell me that I didn't tell him how I felt."

Alice sipped her tea. "No," she shook her head, smiling. "There were no love confessions last night. You did get a little silly with him. You kept punching him in the arm and calling him 'Buddy'."

I cringed. Well, it could have been worse. There could have been molesting.

"Then you leaned your head on his shoulder and said that you weren't feeling well. He dragged you over to the kitchen table and forced you to drink about three glasses of water so you wouldn't throw up. Then he made you lie down on the couch. Once he was sure that you were asleep he carried you to his room. He put you into the bed and came right back out."

I pondered Alice's words for a moment.

"How did he know I was asleep?" It didn't seem like it would matter. Either I was asleep or I wasn't. There was something off about the way that Alice had said that.

She made a face. I could tell that there was something that Alice had been planning on not telling me. "Well, you kinda—said his name." She cringed, preparing for impact.

"What?" I shrieked. I knew that I talked in my sleep. What had my drunken mind spilled out while I was unconscious? Would I really never be able to be in the same room as Edward again?

"No, nothing crazy," Alice reassured me. "You just sorta sighed his name. You had this cute little smile on your face. He thought that you were awake and asking for him, and I mentioned that you talked in your sleep. Sorry." She looked apologetic. "But he didn't react badly. He didn't seem weirded out or offended that you had said his name. He smiled to himself. He seemed to like the idea that you were dreaming about him."

I leaned my head back on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling. So in my drunken state I had not admitted to any feelings for Edward, but I had said his name in my sleep. I tried not to freak out. At least I got a positive reaction from him. That made the urge to kill myself lessen.

_It could have been worse, Bella,_ the little voice in the back of my head reasoned. _Be thankful you woke up with all your clothes on and that you didn't tell him anything. _

I sighed to myself. It could always be worse.

* * *

**Sorry, to those of you who wanted to see what Bella was like drunk. As I have never been drunk myself I didn't feel comfortable writing it from first person. But, maybe if you are all good you might get to read it from Edward's point of view at some point in the future. ;) I recently just spent some time with a rather large number of drunk people, so I do have a few fun ideas if I choose to give Edward a say at some point.  
**

**So, as you probably observed, we are going to witness a large change in Edward's personality. He's much more fun now and much more shy. If you knew, like I do, what's going on inside his head you might have liked him a bit better earlier to. **

**Anywho, drunken awkwardnesss. So much fun. I must say that drunk people are a lot of fun to hang out with. They keep giving you hugs and telling you how great you are, even if you just met them. I'm just rambling now. Until next time...  
**

**Thanks for reading! :)  
**


	7. Another Awkward Phone Call

**Disclaimer:** Does anyone actually think that I own this?

Thoughts=_Italics_

Sorry this one is so short. I'll make it up to you later.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Another Awkward Phone Call**

I wandered around downtown by myself. I looked in the odd shop window but had no interest in buying anything. Nothing interesting was ever open on Sunday afternoons.

Alice was having Jasper over that afternoon and I had decided that it would be best if I vacated the premises. The problem was that I didn't have anybody else to hang out with.

That morning I had found Rose's phone number in my bag. Alice said that Rose had dropped it in there for me before she had left. I could have called her, but I didn't feel like I knew her well enough yet.

My phone buzzed in my bag. I fished it out of its special little pocket and glanced at the caller I.D. screen.

Edward.

Why was he calling me? I still felt embarrassed about my conduct the two nights before and wasn't sure if I was ready to speak to him again or not.

_Maybe he just has a question about the homework, _I attempted to convince myself. _That's the only reason why you two traded phone numbers in the first place._

Getting Edward's phone number had been a chore. I had decided that it would be best to trade numbers in case either of us ever missed class or ever needed help. Edward hadn't seemed to keen on the idea. I had to convince him that one never knew when one might miss class. He had laughed and said that, with my luck, I could end up in the emergency room at any time.

I hadn't been too pleased with his comment, but at least I had gotten his number.

We were past that stage now. After the other night there would be no more mean jokes at my expense. He wouldn't try to push me away anymore. That thought gave me what little courage I had to answer the phone.

I took a steadying breath and opened the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Bella. It's Edward."

I really didn't know why people always said who they were anymore. I everyone I knew had caller I.D. and all cell phones came with it.

"Hey Edward." _Act casual. Don't too excited about him calling and don't get embarrassed._

"What are you doing?"

Why would Edward care about what I was doing?

"I'm, um, walking around town. Jasper is over at our place and I thought that I should leave them alone." I had tried to stay for a little while, but decided to leave instead. It had been awkward.

"I thought as much," Edward laughed. "I wouldn't want to be around the love birds either. I thought that I would rescue you. Do you want to come over?"

"Come over?" What did that mean? Come over and do what exactly? Talk? Play a board game? Plan our wedding?

"Yeah," he sounded a little confused, "isn't that what friends do? They hang out together."

_Oh, friends. Right._ I was beginning to develop a love-hate relationship with that word. I had almost forgotten that Edward and I had agreed to be friends. This was a thing that friends did.

"Oh, I guess I could." _Keep it causal. You have other things that you could be doing. Let him give you a good reason why you should come over. You don't want to seem desperate for his attention. Even though you are. _

"I was just going to watch Willow." He paused as if expecting some sort of reaction from me.

"Oh," I said after a moment, feeling the necessity to respond.

"Willow," he said again, this time much slower. "You've never seen Willow?"

"I can't say that I have."

"It's a George Lucas movie," Edward almost shouted into the phone. "He made it right after Star Wars. It's amazing!"

"I've never seen it," I shrugged. "Although I assume by that violent outburst that I am really missing something."

"It's starring Warwick Davis," Edward sounded exasperated. "He played Wicket."

"I know who Warwick Davis is," I snapped at him. "So what's it about? Is it anything like Star Wars?"

"Are you coming over?"

He wanted a commitment out of me. At that point I was ready to commit my entire life to him. He could have one afternoon if he wanted it.

"I'm walking to my truck. Now, what is it about?"

"It's a fantasy story with lots of magic and a baby in it. It's totally your thing."

"Why do you assume that I'll like it because a baby is in it?" I asked incredulously.

"Because you're a girl," Edward said casually, like it was the only reasonable answer

"What?" I didn't like being classified by my gender.

"It's the same with the Ewoks and other small animals. Women are programmed to like things with small symmetrical faces and big eyes. If women didn't love to look at babies then the babies would die."

I narrowed my eyes at the phone, but it was hard for me to argue with something that could be explained both psychologically and anthropologically. His argument made perfect sense to me. And, in my case at least, he was correct. I did love babies.

"Fine," I grumbled, slamming my truck door for emphasis. "I'll be there in fifteen minuets."

"See you then," I could almost hear him smiling on the other end.

"Bye," I tried not to sound to eager.

"Bye Bella."

The sound of him saying my name made my breath hitch in a way that caused me to have to sit in my truck for several moments in order to remember how to breathe again.

* * *

**Yeah, so if you haven't seen Willow go out and see it. I personally like it better than Star Wars. It's pretty much amazing. **

**For those of you who didn't like my anthropology comment, I am sorry. It's just a theory, a theory that can be backed up by a lot of studies. And I know that not all females like kids and stuff like that, but Edward was just being kind of general, and again, he's not good at talking to girls. He's not being sexist or trying to offend anyone, so calm down. :)**

**Yep, so short chapter to develop some kind of a friendship. I had thought about writing them watching the movie, but then I thought that might be boring since I've already done that once and I'm going to do it again. I wont make you sit through too many movies. Wow, I seem to ramble on on this thing. I'm going to stop now. **

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	8. The Long Ride Home

**Discalimer:** I am not Stephenie Meyer. Nor am I George Lucas, Terry Gilliam, Joss Whedon, Jim Henson, Walt Disney, Shakespeare, Chaucer, George Orwell, Ray Bradbury, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, Hemmingway, Emily Dickison, Jane Austen or any other of the authors, screenwriters or directors that are affiliated with anything that I may have mentioned in this chapter. If I was I wouldn't be writing Twilight fan fiction.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**The Long Ride Home**

My relationship with Edward carried on in much the same vain for several weeks. Whenever Alice and Jasper would spend an evening together Edward and I would take refuge with each other.

It was always the same. We'd get together and watch one movie or another. It had become some sort of challenge for us to find some great movie that the other hadn't seen. I hadn't seen Willow. Edward hadn't seen Time Bandits. Despite the fact that I was a huge fan of the series, I had never seen the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. Edward had loved Labyrinth when he was a kid, but he had never seen The Dark Crystal.

We watched the old horrible Batman movies together. One day we watched all three of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. We even dug up old Disney movies like Pinocchio and The Aristocats that we hadn't seen since we were kids.

After a month Edward and I had a solid friendship. I had to admit, I was happy. I had more than I had ever imagined having with Edward. In truth, I had never thought, even for a second, that he would want to be around me.

We had fun together. We laughed _together_, not at me. Most of the time, anyway.

The problem was, I never saw the possibility for something more. I looked, I searched for the possibility, but I couldn't seem to find one. As far as I could tell, Edward and I were never going to be anything more than friends.

I thought that it was something that I could deal with. I enjoyed being around Edward, so I why couldn't I be happy with just that? I was falling for Edward more and more with each passing day. His eyes, his smile, the fact that he was a total gentleman. There were times that I thought I had imagined him, Edward was so perfect. My feelings for him were becoming uncontainable.

My desperate love for Edward lead to a lot of moping, which irritated Alice to no end. Whenever I wasn't with Edward I tended to sulk around the house. Alice said that I had to take the initiative. She was constantly reminding me that Edward was just as shy as I was. She was always telling me that I had a chance, but I didn't believe her.

To my horror Alice had asked Jasper if Edward had ever talked about me. Jasper had said that Edward's comments about me never seemed more than platonic, but he couldn't really tell. Edward just wasn't the type of guy who talks about girls with other guys. Now I had to suffer Jasper's apologetic looks on top of my grim belief that I would spend the rest of my life in love with someone who never thought of me as anything more than a friend.

********

"Antsy, Bella?" Edward's velvety voice broke me out of my daydream.

I blushed and looked at my knees. I tended to bounce. It seemed impossible for me to keep perfectly still. I was always drumming my fingers or bouncing my feet around.

"We've been driving for over an hour," I said blandly, hoping that Edward would be too focused on the road to notice my face's change in color. "Of course I'm antsy."

Edward laughed. When he used to laugh it was always a little harsh. The jokes that he used to make at my expense always came with a biting edge and felt condescending. Now his laugh was always soft and musical. His teasing more gentle and friendly. There was nothing that could make me shiver like the sound of Edward's laughter.

I was currently trapped in what I had named 'my own personal hell.' I was locked in a small metal box for an unknown amount of time with Edward.

To me Spring Break had never been anything more than a week without school. Most college kids would go off and party, but that kind of thing would never be for me. But I had never considered my week of freedom as an option to go and visit my parents.

I found out that every Spring Break Rose, Jasper and Edward would all carpool back to Forks to see their families. Alice had not so subtly suggested to me that, maybe, I should do the same. Apparently I never spent enough time with my dad. As I had guessed she would, a week after I had decided to go home Alice had begun complaining about being alone in the apartment for a week. I didn't understand why she couldn't have just asked me, but I guess she didn't want me to feel pressured. I would have said yes anyway.

Rosalie was taking Emmett home to meet her parents, so it seemed like the best time for Alice to meet Mr. and Mrs. Hale as well. Alice would be staying at my house, but she was going straight to Jasper's house as soon as she arrived in Forks.

Due to this detour and the fact that we all couldn't fit in one car, Edward and I were exiled together in his silver Volvo. I was alone in a car with Edward. My mind was trying hard not to think of all of the things that could happen. I tended to let my imagination get away from me when it came to Edward.

I drummed my fingers against my knees. Conversation was still not the easiest thing to come by for Edward and I. After being in the car for over an hour we had only succeeded in talking for roughly five minuets. Yes, I timed our conversations.

I went through topics in my head. All Edward and I ever seemed to talk about was movies. It had begun to feel like watching movies was all I ever did. What else did I do? I read. Edward read, I remembered his overflowing bookshelf.

"So," I began, "books."

Edward made a face at the road. I didn't blame him. I hadn't really asked a question or made a statement. I had just said a noun.

"Books?"

"That was my attempt to start a conversation with you," I said blandly.

Edward smiled. "Oh, books. What about them?"

"What do you like to read?" A very general question. One, I hoped, that could not be answered easily.

Edward shrugged. "Lots of stuff."

"Could you be a little more vague?" I asked.

"Shakespeare, Chaucer, Orwell, Bradbury, Twain, Poe, Hemmingway. Lots of stuff. I like Arthur Conan Doyle and Lloyd Alexander. Isaac Asmiov is pretty good. David Eddings. Robert Jordan. Stephen King. I don't know." He shrugged again.

"You like horror?" I asked.

Edward shrugged again. "It's okay, but I was referring to The Dark Tower series. It's more Sci-Fi/fantasy."

"Oh, I think I've heard of that."

"So what about you, what do you read?"

"Aside for what you mentioned? Austen, Bronte, Dickinson. The usual suspects for a female English major."

"What are you going to do with that anyway?"

"What?" His question made absolutely no sense.

"You're majoring in English. What exactly do you plan to do with that? You're not going to make a whole lot of money writing ten page essays on Anna Karenina."

To be honest, I had never really thought about. "What are you going to do with a History major?" I swung back. The fact that I didn't have an answer to Edward's question made me nervous. "Essay's on the Incas?"

"I want to be a History teacher," he answered without even thinking.

"Teach?" I vaguely remembered Charlie saying something about Edward wanting to be a teacher.

"Yeah, high school. I was never really fond of any of my history teachers. They always just recited the book; they didn't seem to have any love for what was going on. I always thought that I could do a better job, so I decided I would."

The idea of Edward as a teacher made me smile. He had always reminded me a bit of one of my geeky math teachers from back in Phoenix. He was the kind of teacher that you would have liked to hang out with even if you hated the subject.

Edward looked at me for a moment before turning back to the road. "I always though that you should do it to." I would have thought he was joking if his voice hadn't been so serious.

"Teach?" I asked again. "Me?

"Sure. You've got a great personality. You're very easy to like and you're really smart."

"Me? Are you sure that we are talking about the same person. I'm the girl who blushes a lot and trips over everything."

Edward smiled at the road. "All the same, you'd make a great teacher."

Edward hadn't needed to ask for directions to my father's house. Everybody knew where the chief lived. I hadn't even realized that we had arrived until Edward stopped the car.

I resisted getting out of the car. Our time together, which had seemed so long and daunting at the beginning of our journey, had ended far too soon.

When I didn't immediately move from the car Edward smiled at me. It was not the usual smile. There was something else lingering in the back of his eyes. He spoke in a voice so similar and yet so different than the one I was used to. "Don't worry. I'll see you tomorrow."

These words reassured me. I had feared that it would be a week before Edward and I would be together again. But Edward planned to spend time with me. Well, we were supposed to be friends.

I sneered to myself as I thought that horrible word and got out of the car

********

"So, you came down with Edward Cullen?" I could hear the real question in Charlie's voice, but was not about to answer it.

"Yeah, Alice drove with the Hales. She'll be here around ten." I had already told my father all of this on the phone and when he got home from work. Charlie was no longer interested in Alice, though. All he seemed to be curious about was my relationship with Edward.

I had arrived home before Charlie had gotten home from work, so Edward had been spared the awkward small talk with my father, but I had this horrible feeling that it was going to happen one way or another whether I liked it or not. _It isn't as if Edward is your boyfriend,_ I told myself. _He's just some guy that you're friends with. What does it matter if he talks to your dad?_

I got up to clear the dishes from the table.

"Bella, don't do that."

Charlie felt guilty. The poor man couldn't cook to save his life, so I had taken on the job of feeding my father during my summer and winter breaks. Upon my arrival I had immediately began to cook dinner, falling back into my usual habits. Charlie had always had a problem with me taking care of him.

"I'm just putting them in the sink," I told him. "I cook, you clean." That was the only arrangement that would my dad and I would ever agree on even though I ended up doing the dishes eighty percent of the time anyway.

"So, any plans after school?" Charlie was always asking me this question.

I tipped the dishes into the sink. "Well, Edward spent an hour today trying to convince me to get a teaching credential."

"Really?" I smirked at my father's attempt to keep an even tone whenever Edward's name was mentioned.

"Yeah," I said casually. "Edward was talking about how he wanted to come back to his old high school and teach. He said that I should do the same."

Charlie groaned as he stood up from the table. "Well, I'd love to have you here, Bells. That school could use some new faces as far as teachers go. I think it might not be a bad thing for you to consider." Charlie deposited himself in front of the television and switched on the basketball game.

I pondered my dad's idea. I liked the idea of becoming a teacher, but only because that's what Edward wanted to do. I tried to imagine working with him. Seeing him everyday. Laughing at all the young girls who were sure to have crushes on him.

I smiled to myself. I loved to imagine a future with Edward in it. But, sadly, even in my imagination Edward and I stayed the same distance apart as we currently were. My own mind couldn't construct a realistic future with Edward as anything more than a friend.

********

"So, how was it?" Alice had gotten back to my house at nearly eleven o'clock. Charlie had been passed out on the couch when she arrived from the Hale's house.

"Jasper's parents are so great!" Alice squeaked as she unpacked her clothes into a drawer that I had emptied for her. "They really like me. It was all just so wonderful." Alice was full of vague information that night.

I settled under my covers while Alice pranced around my tiny bedroom. Alice froze in the center of my room and turned to me, a smile on her face. "So," she said casually, sitting down on my bed. "How was your trip down here?"

I fiddled with a button on my comforter. "It was fine."

Alice gently smacked my knee. "Now Bella, you that's not what I want to hear. I want details. Everything that was spoken. I want to know what Edward smiled at and what he laughed at. And don't tell me that you can't remember because I know you better than that. I know for a fact that you could replay your conversation better than a video camera screwed to the dashboard."

I gave Alice an embarrassed smile before diving in. I told her everything, every tiny little thing that had passed between Edward and I in the car. Alice seemed quite interested in my perceived change in Edward's voice before I had gotten out of the car.

"What did it sound like? Regretful? Longing? Love?"

I sighed. "I really don't know. All I can say is that his voice sounded different, somehow."

Alice rearranged herself on my bed. "Bella, I need to you tell me exactly what he said and what it was in response to. Be specific." Her voice was serious. It sounded more like we were discussing the national debt, or world hunger, not the finer points of Edward's change in vocal tone.

I thought for a minuet. "I didn't get out of the car right away. I was afraid that I wouldn't see him until we leave. He smiled at me and said, 'Don't worry. I'll see you tomorrow.' It was like he could read my mind."

"Well," Alice rolled her eyes. "One thing I can tell you for sure is that Edward cannot read your mind. If he could it would save us a lot of trouble. Now, how did he say this? Was there a joking edge to his voice, like he was teasing you?"

I shook my head. "No. It was soft and sweet. Gentler than I've ever heard before. Maybe a bit more intense? I don't know." I shrugged.

"Intense?" Alice perked up. "That's definitely good. We like intensity. Now, where were his eyes when he said this?"

"Looking at me. I don't know." I tossed my head back on my pillow, exasperated by our talk. "Alice you are reading way too much into this simple little conversation."

Alice shook her head. "You're reading, I'm interpreting. Now, what about the _emotions_ in his eyes? C'mon Bella. This is important."

I threw a pillow over my head to shut out the sound of Alice's voice.

* * *

**Okay, so I got a lot of geek out in the beginning of this chapter. I haven't read most of the things that Edward or Bella mentioned, but I want to. Some of them are my favorites, but a few of them are on my summer reading list.**

**If you haven't seen Time Bandits, The Dark Crystal or Labyrinth I would suggest seeing them. Really good movies.I got a kick out of those of you who got excited when I mentioned Willow. I've loved that movie since I was tiny and I wanted to encourage more people to watch it.  
**

**So when I let one of my friends read this she thought that in this chapter Alice sounded like her. Many of my other friends have commented to the same affect on my other stories. I must admit that, yes, Andrea tends to be my Alice inspiration. There, I said it. **

**So we get more of Charlie cuz I luvs him. He makes me smile. Next time we get to have some fun out in Port Angeles, so stay tuned. **

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	9. Port Angeles

**Disclaimer:** Nope, still nothing

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Port Angeles**

I awoke to Alice tossing clothes around my room. It took me several minuets before I realized that Alice was already dressed, which could only mean that it was my clothes being tossed. I groaned and pulled the blanket up over my head. It was never a good thing when the day started with Alice tearing through my clothes.

"The boys called twenty minuets ago," Alice informed me. "They are coming to pick us up in an hour and a half. Rose and Emmett are already in Port Angeles. We're going to meet them there."

I pulled the blanket back down. "I haven't been to Port Angeles since I was a kid," I said in the direction of the ceiling.

"I know," Alice said. "That's why Edward is so hot to go there. He wants to show you all of the places that you've never seen."

Alice smirked at me. The night before she had decided that Edward was in love with me. I had decided that she was crazy. Alice had gone on for a while about how it was the only explanation that made sense. She had only met Jasper because I had so desperately wanted to be near Edward that night at the movies. And seeing how she and Jasper were made for one another it only made sense that Edward and I would share the same connection.

I was thinking about putting Alice in some sort of institution.

I sat up in bed, still feeling groggy. "So, what am I wearing?"

Alice motioned to dark red blouse that was hung across my closet doors. She was holding up different pairs of jeans under it. "We want her to look pale in a pretty way," she muttered to herself, "not a vampire way." She tossed one of the pairs of jeans onto the bed. "Yes, definitely those."

I twisted my neck around to work out all of the kinks. "Hand me that hairbrush."

Alice tossed the brush to me and I began to work the tangles out of my hair. Normally in any situation like this I would resist Alice's insanities, but for the first time in my life I was actually concerned with looking pretty and I knew that if anyone could give me a little push in the right direction, it would be Alice.

I thanked every god I could name that for once my hair hadn't become a crazy curly mess overnight. When I brushed it out it fell into my natural waves, which meant that Alice had no excuse to slather me with plasticy smelling products.

I got dressed without a word and, as usual, resisted all of Alice's attempts to put makeup on me. I would let her dress me a fix my hair, but I drew the line at letting her paint my face.

It had taken Alice a full hour to arrange me the way she wanted. I managed to get away from her long enough to swallow a granola bar and a glass of orange juice.

In the background of the house Alice was making plans. She was coming up with as many ways as possible to get me alone with Edward.

"Of course it would be more helpful if you knew the layout of the place. It would be easier to 'get lost', if you know what I mean."

I didn't know, but I didn't tell her that. I wasn't in the mood to suffer through her explanation. Instead I breezed through the crossword puzzle in the local newspaper.

Alice perked up suddenly and I saw Edward's silver Volvo parked in front of my house. Alice was out the door and in Jasper's arms before I had even managed to shrug my coat on.

Edward was sitting casually on the hood of his car, smiling at me. For a wild moment I considered making a fool out of myself before I realized that Edward was focusing on me to avoid looking at the couple embracing passionately only a few feet away.

"I think that they are getting worse," Edward smiled awkwardly.

I nodded in response. I was too caught up in the way the pale blue of Edward's button down shirt made his skin seem almost translucent. I managed to avoid the intensity of those green eyes by fiddling with the zipper on my jacket.

Edward opened the passenger door for me and motioned that I should climb in. I blushed. I was not used to being treated like that. I knew that I should mind, but the part of me that read too many Jane Austen novels told me to shut up and enjoy the fact that Edward seemed to be a perfect gentleman.

I slid into the seat just as Alice and Jasper climbed in the back behind me.

All four of us chatted while we drove. I drummed my fingers on my leg. Apparently Edward's proximity made me just as antsy as long car rides. On the way Edward would point out the odd landmark to Alice and I, giving us a taste of the local history.

In Port Angeles we drove around for a minuet before Edward managed to find a parking spot right next to Rose's shiny red convertible. Emmett and Rose were sitting on the hood of the car, waiting for us.

"Bella, you look hot," Rose commented as I got out of the car.

I smirked at her and gave her an uncharacteristic spin. Normally I wouldn't prance around like that, but I wanted to see if Edward was watching. He wasn't. I sighed.

"Don't worry," Rose said in a low voice. "Edward is just as shy as you are. He is not the type to stare. If he thinks you look pretty, chances are he will look at you even less."

I opened my mouth, prepared to deny everything, then I thought, _well, Rose is the only female who knows anything about Edward. You want her on your side._

I scrunched up my face in embarrassment. "That obvious, huh?"

"Woman's intuition," she whispered with a smug smile on her face. "You are the only girl who has be willing to put up with him for this long who wasn't insane. I want you two to get together. Edward is like my little brother; I want him to find someone just as perfect for him as Alice is for Jasper. I think that you can be that girl."

"Thanks," I smiled. I needed some kind of reassurance from someone who wasn't Alice.

"I'm going to go and talk to Alice," Rosalie said. "I will see if there is any way that we can get you and Edward alone today."

I rolled my eyes as Rose walked away from me.

We walked around a few stores. I wasn't really interested in clothes so I stayed close to the boys. They seemed to be having the most fun. If Alice and Rose were ever out of earshot of the rest of us you could see their head together, plotting. It made me nervous; that they were trying so hard to accomplish something that I had decided long ago was impossible.

We were walking down the street in pairs. Rose and Emmett in front, Emmett's arm draped across Rose's shoulder. Alice and Jasper both holding hands and talking softly to each other. Edward and I in back, not speaking to each other, not really looking at each other, with a good foot and a half of space between us.

I had gotten into the habit of watching my feet when I walked. I found that if I looked at the ground I tripped less. Of course, I walked into more things, but I was attempting to find some sort of a balance. I had been watching my feet closely. I was not familiar with this area which made it exponentially more likely for me to trip, something I really wanted to avoid doing in front of Edward.

Just as we were about to round a street corner I was tugged back into darkness. It took me a moment to realize that Edward had pulled me back into a dark alcove in front of a store. The space that we were in was small and I was pressed pretty closely into Edward's chest. His arms were wrapped tightly around my waist, as if he was expecting me to fall when he pulled me.

We were so close together that I could hear his breathing. The air was filled with Edward's sweet scent, making me dizzy. I blinked in the darkness in an attempt to bring Edward's face into focus.

"Um, hi?" was all I could think to say.

Edward smiled at me. I noticed that he had yet to release me from his grasp, not that I was complaining.

"I thought that maybe we could leave the couples to do their own thing for a while," Edward spoke in a low velvety voice. I did my best not to shiver at the pulse of adrenaline that shot through my veins. "Besides, there are a few places I thought that you would like to see that I'm guessing Rose and Alice have little to no interest in."

I exhaled, trying desperately to find a way to respond to him. "Okay," I managed to croak out. "Sounds like fun."

Edward steered me out towards the light. Once the bright sun hit us he released me, much to my disappointment.

Walking around with Edward was considerably more fun than being with the whole group. Alone, Edward and I seemed to find conversation much easier. We laughed as we walked, rarely ever pausing to look at something.

We had wandered into some small music store. I had begun to amuse myself with a pattern that I had noticed. Some girl in the store would notice Edward. She would edge closer to him until she managed to catch his eye. She would toss him a flirty smirk and he would smile back politely, oblivious to the girl's intentions. Then he would say something to me, or move closer to show me something. The girl would then glare at me and leave. This had happen four times in the same store. Edward seemed completely unaware of anything happening.

"Does that happen so often that you have just learned to ignore it?" I asked as we left the store.

"What happened?" Edward asked, genuine confusion in his eyes.

"All those girls," I said incredulously. "You can't tell me that you didn't notice? They were swarming around you like locus."

Edward seemed to ponder this for a moment. "I honestly didn't notice," he shrugged. "As far as I was aware, you were the only girl in the store."

Now, these words would send any girl reeling, but the casual way that Edward said them gave me a firmer grip on reality. He hadn't meant it _that way_. What he had meant was he was aware that I was in the store with him; he just really didn't notice the other girls. Nothing romantic. Edward wasn't declaring himself; he was just stating a fact.

Edward began to pick up his pace. "Where are we going to in such a hurry?" I asked, unable to keep up with him.

Edward turned to me. He unconsciously took my hand to pull me along with him. "C'mon. You are totally going to love this."

I didn't pay attention to where we were headed. I could only feel Edward's warm, strong hand wrapped around mine. I was sure when he grabbed me that it had not been intentional; Edward had just wanted to hurry me along. For a brief moment I let myself believe that Edward had actually wanted to hold my hand, that he had planned it. I shook my head, dreaming about things that will never happen always make your own life harder to live.

Somewhere, in a hazy alcohol fuzzed memory I could remember Edward's low musical voice speaking the words, 'I have never held hands with a girl.' Part of me wanted to point this out to him, to draw his attention to the fact that I was the first girl that he had ever held hands with, but I didn't. I feared that if I drew his attention to where we were joined that he would realize his mistake and let go. If I kept quiet I allowed myself to live in fantasy for a few more precious minuets.

"Here we are." Edward led me into a small store off an empty looking street.

It was probably the most amazing place I had ever walked into. As far as I could see there were shelves and shelves of books. The handmade wooden shelves were double parked with books, all stacked on their sides to maximize the space. The room was filled with the smell of hardwood and aging paper.

"Wow," I exhaled.

Edward smiled at me. "I thought you would like this place."

"Edward!" An old craggy voice came from behind a large stack of books.

A very short man stood up from behind a desk that was stacked six feet high with thick picture books. The man wobbled over to us on shaky knees. His back was rounded and his pants were held up over his large belly by red suspenders. He wore large glasses that magnified his eyes and made him look like a large owl.

"Mr. Crandle," Edward smiled at the tiny man. He shook the little mans hand in two of his, dropping mine in the process.

"Your father ordered a book from me," the old man wagged a finger in the air. "I just got it in yesterday. Just about to call him. I'll go and get it." The man disappeared into a back room.

Edward shook his head and laughed. "Crandle is a funny old man. Got this place when he was about my age. His mind is still as sharp as a tack. Always reads." Edward bent low to whisper in my ear. "Take a look around. You know you want to."

I grinned at Edward and buried myself in the shelves of books. I wandered from section to section, pulling out books at random. When I wandered into the poetry section I pulled out books by all my favorite writers, taking the time to read over some of my favorite poems. I paused over my favorite Emily Dickinson poem. My lips followed along as I read _If You Were Coming in the Fall _to myself. I read the fourth stanza quietly out loud.

_If certain, when this life was out-_

_That yours and mine, should be_

_I'd toss it yonder, like a Rind,_

_And take Eternity-_

"What did you say?"

I was broken out of my trance by Edward's words. He was standing over me, smiling.

"Oh, nothing." I was so startled by Edward's presence that I dropped the book.

Edward caught it in mid air, managing to keep my page. "Emily Dickinson," he grinned at the book. "_If You Were Coming in the Fall_. You could wait forever if you knew that you could be with the one you loved." He handed the book back to me. "I prefer _Because I Could Not Stop For Death, _personally. I'm not big on unrequited love."

_Of course you wouldn't be,_ I thought to myself. _You haven't ever had to live with it. _

I had been looking at that poem, not only because it was one of my favorites, but because it reminded me so deeply how I felt about Edward. I could live through anything, any length of time, if only I knew that I could have him at the end of it all. But I couldn't have him and it was killing me.

I placed the book back on the shelf and walked away from Edward. Being to close to him in this bookstore made me blush.

Emmett's booming chuckle came back to me. "I have never had a sexual fantasy set in a library or bookstore." Both Edward and I had admitted to that one. If he came to close to me I might take the liberty of checking that one off of both of our lists.

I wandered around on my own for a little while, allowing myself to get lost in some of my old favorites.

"Bella," Edward's voice called to me through a shelf. "Where are you?"

"Right here." I walked into the aisle that he was standing in.

Edward smiled. "There's something I wanted to show you." He placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me to the back of the bookstore. "I can't believe I forgot to show you the best part."

In the back of the store an open door led outside into a large open garden. The brick patio was filled with potted ferns that glowed in the sunlight. Several small mechanical fountains were scattered throughout the space, making it look a bit like a garden decorations store.

"It's beautiful." I carefully stepped down the two or three stairs and out into the warm sunlight.

I closed my eyes. Back in that small, secluded garden I could feel nothing but the sunlight on my face and hear nothing but the birds chirping and the bubbling of the fountains. I sat down on a wooden bench and turned my eyes to look up at Edward.

He was still standing up in the doorway. He was looking at me with a strange expression on his face that I couldn't read. Wonder, maybe. His smile did not reach his lips, but was shining in his eyes.

"What?" I asked him; desperate to know what was gong on in his mind.

Edward shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing at all." He turned back inside, leaving me alone in the sun.

I sighed to myself once he was out of my sight. What did I do to bother him? What could I possibly have done to make him want to get away from me so quickly?

I remembered that I had been holding a book went Edward had brought me out here. I had completely forgotten that I was holding the most beautiful leather bound copy of Alice in Wonderland that I had ever seen. I opened the book in my lap, deciding to read rather then to wallow in self-pity.

I was a good way into the book when my concentration was broken by the sound of a phone ringing. I looked up to see Edward, leaning in the doorway, fishing his cell phone out of his pocket. _How long had he been standing there?_

"Hey," he said into the phone. "I was wondering when you were going to call… We haven't been gone for that long, have we?... I guess you're right. Wow, time flies when you are having fun… How'd you guess?... Whatever, you obviously know me far too well. I think I need some new friends, someone I can't surprise as easily as you... Yeah, whatever…Okay, I'll get her going and we'll try to get there in time. I didn't realize that it was so late already…Yeah, see you in a bit. Bye Rose." Edward closed the phone.

"Do you realize that we've been gone for nearly six hours?" he asked me.

"What?" I had a hard time believing him.

"Yeah, seriously. We've been here for a good four hours at least." Edward came down the stairs to me as I stood up. "Alice wanted us all to watch the sunset together in the pier before going to get dinner. We have about fifteen minuets to get over there."

I walked back into the bookstore, followed by Edward. I went to place the book back on its shelf when Edward stopped me.

"I'll buy it for you."

"What? Why?" I was confused by Edward's generosity so soon after him giving me the cold shoulder.

"It's your favorite. You loved it the moment you picked it up. I have to buy it for you." Edward took the book out of my hand and placed in on top of a small pile that he had accumulated on the cashier's desk. The little old man began to add up the totals for all the books.

"How do you know that it's my favorite?" I asked.

Edward handed the owl-man several bills. "I was watching you read it. The smile you had on your face was wistful and nostalgic. It's definitely your favorite children's book." Edward took the thin plastic bag filled with books and headed out the door.

"What's your favorite children's book?" I asked as we walked hurriedly down the street.

"The Hobbit," he said plainly.

"That's not a children's book."

"My dad read it to me the first time when I was four. We had a big book this tall," Edward showed the spacing with his hands, "and about this thick. It had pictures from the cartoon in it. They folded out to be about three feet long. I loved that thing. It was always my favorite. Still is, actually."

I could almost imagine a tiny Edward sitting in his father's lap being read The Hobbit. I could imagine Edward correcting his father's pronunciation and saying that he read too slowly. I smirked.

Edward stopped by his car to toss the bag full of books into the back seat on the way to the pier. We got there just shy of sunset. The sky was a brilliant orange color with clouds that where so brightly pink it made my eyes hurt.

Our four companions were waiting for us at the end of the wooden walkway, looking out to the horizon.

I pulled my small digital camera out of my bag and began snapping pictures of the vibrant colored sky.

I managed a few minuets peace before I realized that Rose and Alice had closed in on either side of me. They were looking for a story, I could tell.

"So," Rose prompted in a low voice, "what happened?"

I glanced over to the boys. Edward and Jasper seemed to be in the middle of a failed attempt to throw Emmett off the edge of the pier. _Boys._

"C'mon Bella." Alice bounced on her toes impatiently. "We were coming up with all these different plans to ditch you guys and then you two just disappear. How did you do it?"

"I didn't do anything," I tried to say as casually as possible.

"What?" both girls asked at once.

"Edward did. He pulled me back and said that we should head off somewhere else." I shrugged. I left out the part about just how close he had pulled me.

"What happened?" Rose demanded.

I could tell there was no way I was going to get out of this.

I told them everything, about the girls in the music store, about what Edward said about them, about him holding my hand as he pulled me to the bookstore, about his leaving me alone in the garden, about him apparently watching me in the garden. They were very interested.

"Bella, this is good stuff," Rose said.

"Yeah, whatever." I turned my attention out to the quickly darkening sky. "I'm not getting my hopes up."

Much to my pleasure Emmett ended my torture by saying that the sun was down and he wanted to eat.

When we got to the little restaurant Edward stayed to the back of the group. He seemed to be trying to hide himself from something. I didn't get an explanation until all six of us crammed ourselves into the tiny booth.

"Hiding from the hostess?" Rose teased.

Edward glared at the blond.

"If there is one thing you can say about this place," Jasper took up where his sister left off, "it's that the staff here are always friendly, to Edward, at least."

Edward kicked Jasper under the table. We all laughed.

Due to my claustrophobia I had been allowed to sit on the end of my bench, the entire right side of my body squished into Edward. When we all started laughing I nearly tumbled out of my seat, but Edward caught me around the waist.

"Thanks," I muttered.

"Catching you seems to be a full time job," Edward commented.

"You're not getting paid very well," I said.

"Hmm, you're just going to have to owe me, now aren't you?"

I liked that idea. I could feel four pairs of eyes on us, waiting for my next move. The problem was; I wasn't sure if Edward was teasing or flirting. _Probably teasing,_ I reasoned with myself. He promised that he would stop, but it was pretty playful so I didn't mind.

"I've got a way that you can repay him, Bella." Rosalie interjected, a mischievous smile painted across her lips. "You can pretend to be his girlfriend. Look, Edward. It's your favorite person."

Before Edward or I had managed to turn around to see where Rose was pointing the waitress was upon us. She was short with masses of curly brown hair and had a small mousy face.

"Edward," she squealed. "How are you? I haven't seen you in so long."

"Hey, Jessica," Edward's voice lacked the girls enthusiasm. "I'm doing pretty well. You?"

The girl giggled and Rose snorted. Jessica seemed to take notice of the rest of us. "Rosalie, Jasper, I should have known if Edward was here that you wouldn't be too far behind."

Rose tipped her head to the side and smiled at the girl, her eyes shooting daggers. "Hey Jess," Rose's voice was filled with venomous cheer. "It's so good to see you, really."

The girl didn't seem to notice the vitriol spilling out of Rose. "Who are your friends?"

"This is my boyfriend Emmett. That's Jasper's girlfriend Alice. And this is—"

"This is Bella," Edward cut Rose off before she could claim that Edward and I were dating. I knew how Edward felt about lying. "Bella is Chief Swan's daughter," Edward informed Jessica. "We just happened to have a class together at school. Small world, huh?"

"Small world," Jessica agreed through a very forced looking smile. "Can I get you guys anything to drink?"

We all ordered some sodas and the girl disappeared.

"That went well," Jasper teased Edward. Edward buried his face in his hands.

"Explain please?" Alice asked.

"Jessica practically stalked Edward in high school" Rose explained. "That girl would not take 'no' for an answer. Edward eventually had to make up a fake girlfriend to get her to leave him alone."

"She was totally obsessed. He locker was like a shrine to Edward's beauty."

"Jasper, shut up." Edward's voice was muffled by his hands.

"She's coming back. Bella," Rose motioned with her hand that I should scoot closer to Edward.

I narrowed my eyes at her. If I scooted any closer I would be sitting on top of him. Maybe that was the idea.

"Here are your guys drinks." Jessica leaned across the table giving Edward and I a good look down her top. Edward looked away, I marveled that she could be so forward. "Are you all ready to order?" She was talking to everyone, but her eyes never left Edward's face. He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Bella?" he asked me.

As he spoke my name Edward gently leaned his arm across my shoulders. I willed my body not to tremble. The move was so uncharacteristically Edward. I could see his eyes were set on _desperate times call for desperate measures_.

We all gave our orders and Jessica went away.

"Sorry about that," Edward mumbled. He began to move his arm away, but I stopped him.

"Don't. She's going to come back. And I think that she's watching us from the kitchen." _Yeah right, dream on Bella._ "You want her to believe it, don't you?"

Edward gave me a confused smile, but nodded anyway. "I'm game if you are." Edward seemed to be willing to do anything to keep the girl away.

"Ooo," Emmett laughed. "This is going to get interesting."

I planned my next move carefully. I noticed that as Jessica went around to other tables her eyes would always flash in our direction. Once, when I knew I had her attention, I grasped Edward's hand in mine and snuggled closer to him. At first Edward gave me a panicked look, but understood why I was doing it.

Before long Edward began to play along. It had become some sort of a game to see if we could top one another. I held Edward's hand under the table; Edward brought it out for everyone to see. I called him 'sweetheart' and he called me 'love.'

When Jessica set the plates down on our table a shiver went up my spine. Edward's fingers were playing with a curl at the back of my neck. I watched with smug satisfaction when Jessica's eyes narrowed at Edward's fingertips dancing across the nape of my neck.

I got the biggest shock when Edward started to feed me off of his plate. Play flirting aside; this was jumping into another realm. The whole situation was beginning to get a little unreal.

Before we left Edward slid his jacket on my shoulders and I made a very truthful comment about how good he smelled. Edward grasped my hand tightly and we followed the others out the front door.

Part of me had expected the pretense to fall away the moment we were outside, but Edward kept playing. It had been too much fun for both of us. We had crossed several boundary lines of our friendship and it had made the both of us a little giddy.

"Okay, no matter how evil that was, I have to admit that I haven't had that much fun in a while." Edward pulled me close into his side.

I leaned my head against his shoulder. "It's good to know that I'm fun to be around. Maybe now you have a good reason to spend time with me. I can keep the girls away."

"Yeah, and I can catch you. Full time jobs for both of us. Maybe you should move in with me, _love_," he teased.

"You'll have to ask my dad if it's okay, _sweetheart_," I teased back.

Edward and I both laughed together.

"God, you two are getting way too much of a kick out of this," said Emmett, the only person here who was completely unaware of my feelings towards Edward. Aside from Edward, I hoped.

Rosalie elbowed Emmett in the ribs. "Ow. What?"

Rose gave him a hard stare. I had a feeling that Emmett was not going to be oblivious for too much longer.

When we reached the cars Alice and Jasper climbed into the backseat of the Volvo rather quickly. Edward and I stayed outside the car to watch Rose and Emmett drive off. Once the red convertible was out of sight Edward turned to me.

"Have fun today?" he asked.

"Yeah, tons."

"Good," Edward smiled smugly. "I'm really glad that we can have fun together. You are a good friend, Bella."

There was that little word again. That tiny stupid word that made me loose all hope. Oh, how I hated it.

Edward took my hand and spun me around. As he should have expected, I stumbled over backwards, falling against the back passenger door. Edward had tripped to. He was a few inches away from me. I could feel the heat off his body.

My breathing sped up. I was sure that Edward must have been able to hear my heart thud in my chest. My whole body was shaking. That electric current was back. I felt like I had stuck my finger into an electric socket and the shock was vibrating thought my body.

Edward looked down at me. That intense look was back in his eyes. He looked like he was arguing with himself. He leaned closer to me. My heart spluttered. Every fantasy that I had ever had about this man was playing though my head at warp speed. It seemed as if they might actually be coming true.

Then he pulled away.

I realized that he had been leaning over me to open the door for me. I wanted to smack myself.

_That's what you get for wishing. Remember how he just used the 'f'-word. He wouldn't kiss you after just saying how good of a friend you are. _

"Thanks," I muttered and slid into my seat, hoping that the darkness would cloak my blush.

"So close," Alice whispered behind me when Edward closed the door.

I sighed.

* * *

**Yeah, I was a little disappointed to. Oh well, every chapter gets them closer. Normally Jessica is quite annoying, but this time she was rather helpful. We have just entered a new realm in Edward and Bella's relationship. It's also that fun kind of flirting that you get when it's supposed to be play flirting but you actually like the person so it ends up being slightly over done and awkward. Well, they're dorks, so its okay.**

**Thanks for reading! :)  
**


	10. Meet the Parents

**Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters nor do I claim to.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Meet the Parents**

I cleared the lunch dishes off of the kitchen table and tipped them into the sink. Alice was sitting on a stool at the counter flipping through the latest issue of _Seventeen_, occasionally rolling her eyes.

The phone rang. I glared at the receiver, wishing that Charlie had caller I.D. So far four different people had called because they had heard that I was in town. With a sigh I picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Edward."

"Hi," I nearly choked on the word. Edward and I hadn't spoken since the awkwardness in Port Angles two nights before. "What's up?"

"Jasper is coming over to pick you and Alice up in an hour. My parents wanted me to have my friends over. They want to make sure that you aren't imaginary." I could almost hear Edward's teasing smile on the other side of the phone.

I felt like vomiting. Meet Edward's parents? I already knew Dr. Cullen, but this wasn't an emergency room situation. Although, if I fainted it might lead to one. "Sounds like fun."

"Great. Emmett said something about getting some movies or whatever, so I don't know how late you guys are staying till." He laughed. "I'm sure you could move in and my mom wouldn't mind."

I allowed myself to file that piece of information away for a later fantasy. "Well if we are going to be there in an hour I need to get off the phone. Alice needs the proper amount of time to dress me."

Alice's head snapped up from the magazine. "One hour?" she mouthed.

I nodded.

She swore and tore up the stairs to my room.

"Oh dear, you've got me in trouble," I teased. "Alice doesn't like to have less than a days warning so she can think about what to put me in."

"Really?" Edward laughed. "Does she dress you every day?"

"No, just on special occasions, which she decided this whole week fell under. I better get off." I sighed, awaiting my doom.

"Okay, see you in an hour."

"Bye Edward."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone and immediately started to panic. I was going to meet Edward's parents. _His parents!_ Of course it meant nothing. I was just his little friend. It wasn't as if I was meeting them as Edward's girlfriend, or anything.

_Stop panicking Bella. Get a hold of yourself. _

I took a deep breath and ran up to my room after Alice.

To my surprise Alice wasn't tearing through my things. She was gently flipping through her neatly folded piles of clothes, obviously looking for something specific.

"Put that on," she pointed to my closet.

Hanging on the door was a simple dress. I would have come only to just to my knees. The fabric was white eyelet cotton. It was really rather pretty even though I wasn't a dress person.

"Alice, did you buy this for me?" I asked. I had never seen the dress before.

"Yes," she sighed. She knew that I hated it when she bought me things. "I had a feeling that this might happen and I wanted you to have the perfect outfit. Now put it on a brush out your hair."

I pulled the dress over my head. I was surprised when I looked at myself in my closet doors. If I ever got married this would have been the kind of dress that I would have picked out. Simple and pretty.

"White, Alice? Is that really the best idea?"

Alice was pulling on a jean skirt. "Well I was going for a kind of 'virginal' look. You are meeting his parents after all."

I looked back at myself in the mirror. "Do I really need any help pulling off the virginal look? I look like that twenty-four seven."

"Well," Alice began dragging a hairbrush through my waves, "I wanted you to look sweet, which you do."

Alice spent several minuets trying to twist my hair up into various styles. Eventually she gave up and let it fall naturally across my shoulders.

"That looks the best, I guess." She chewed on her bottom lip. She really hated to let me go out there unprepared.

"Alice I look fine. Let me be." I settled down on my bed and watched Alice fiddle with her own hair and makeup.

Alice tossed me a pair of ballet flats that were made out of the same material as my dress. "Here," she handed me a light blue cashmere cardigan to go over my dress. "Now you are perfect."

"Whatever." I never dressed this girly if I could help it. I knew I looked pretty, but this felt extremely foreign to me.

I went downstairs to leave a note for Charlie, telling him that I was going to be at the Cullen's house and had no idea when I was going to be getting home and not to worry. Just as I finished writing I saw Jasper waiting in what I assumed was his parents' car. "Alice, he's here," I called up the steps. I tired to calm my panicking.

********

Edward's house was ridiculously large for a family of three. Did they need a story each? The massive house was settled far back into the woods next to the river that ran through Forks.

I gaped at the house for a few minuets.

"It's something else, isn't it?" Jasper said.

"Yeah," was all I could manage to say in response.

"The front doors open," Jasper nodded to the porch. "Just go on in. There's something I wanted to show Alice around back."

Alice gave me a very strange look that made me decide that I didn't want to know. "Fine," I nodded. "Go have fun."

The two disappeared around the backside of the house and I went up the porch. The glass doors were both wide open. I almost knocked when I heard a faint sound coming from the back of the house.

My eyes widened as I walked in the front door. The entire bottom floor was just one huge room. The massive space had more square footage than my whole house.

Near the back, in one corner, Edward sat hunched over a grand piano. I remembered my dad saying once how Edward played. I had never actually heard him before.

Edward was so completely focused on the Chopin piece he was playing that he didn't even notice me walking up behind him. I watched his hands run back and forth across the keys with such passion and precision. The strength of the chords and the energy that Edward was putting into them almost knocked me over. I didn't breathe until the last chord rang out and Edward's fingers moved away from the keys.

He turned and smiled up at me. "Hey, I didn't hear you come in."

"Your attention was otherwise occupied," I shrugged.

"Yeah," Edward laughed. "I get like that when I play sometimes. It's nice to be home, I get to play on the real piano, not that cracked piece of junk that I have in the apartment."

"That was the Raindrop Prelude, wasn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah," Edward looked confused. "You know Chopin?"

I nodded. I knew little to nothing when it came to classical music, but I loved Chopin. "I have a few Chopin CDs," I explained. A few was an understatement. Over the Internet I had bought every song that Chopin had ever written.

"Where are Alice and Jasper?" Edward asked, looking around.

"Um, Jasper took Alice out back. He said that he wanted to show her something." I held up my hands. "I decided that I didn't want to know."

Edward nodded. "Probably best. You can put your stuff down."

I slung my bag off my shoulder and kicked it under the piano. Deciding that it was warm enough inside, I also pulled off the cashmere cardigan and dropped in on top of my bag.

Edward chuckled.

"What?" I asked, seeing no reason for him to laugh at me.

"You match the rest of the house."

It was true everything in the downstairs room was white, the walls, the carpet even the couches.

"Well," I joked, "If I get nervous I'll back into a wall or something. No one will see me."

Edward gave me a crooked smile. "My mom will defiantly get a kick out of you matching the furniture." There was a sound from the other side of the house that made Edward and I both jump. "Oh, and here she is."

Edward stood up from the piano and placed his hand on the small of my back, guiding me across the vast room to meet his mother and father who had just arrived.

Edward looked tremendously like his father. They had the same smiling face, the same high cheekbones and were both just generally gorgeous. But Edward had his mother's green eyes. His hair was much closer in color and texture to that of Mrs. Cullen. The woman only stood about my height. Both Dr. and Mrs. Cullen looked far too young to have a twenty-one year old son, but Edward was defiantly theirs.

"Mom, dad, this is Bella."

"Hello Bella," Dr. Cullen shook my hand. "It's very nice to see you again."

"It's good to see you again to, Dr. Cullen." I blushed when Edward's father examined me through his glasses.

"Carlisle, please Bella. I'm only Dr. Cullen at work. Here I'm just Carlisle."

Edward's mother grasped my hand in hers. "Esme. It's so nice to finally meet you Bella. We've heard so much about you in the last few weeks."

Weeks? That meant that Edward was talking about me before he came home. I did my best not to get too excited at the thought.

"You have a very beautiful home," I said.

We spoke in generalities for a while. Edward's mother was very nice and cheerful. After about five minuets Rosalie burst through the front door with Emmett, Alice and Jasper in tow.

"Esme," Rose squealed. She ran over to Edward's mother and enveloped her in a hug.

Esme kissed the blond on the cheek. "Rosie, sweetie. We've missed you so much. And Jasper," Esme broke away from Rose to hug her brother, "we've missed you to."

Rose gave Carlisle a hug and Jasper shook his hand.

"Esme, Carlisle, this is Emmett," Rose placed her hand on Emmett's shoulder, like a presenter on TV.

Emmett shook's Edward's parent's hands as Jasper introduced Alice. Alice jumped to hug Esme, as if there was no other option.

"I love having the house full," Esme sighed, looking at the six of us. "You kids are welcome here any time, whether Edward wants you or not."

We all laughed.

********

The bright red disk flew through the air, being caught by Alice just before it hit the ground. My five friends were below, spread across the Cullen's front lawn, playing Frisbee and laughing. I watched from a safe distance on the porch.

"You're not playing?" Esme had drifted out onto the porch and was leaning against the railing next to me.

I shook my head. "If I play then someone is going to get hurt."

Esme leaned her head to the side. "Someone?"

I pointed at myself.

She smiled and nodded.

"I'm not so good with the hand eye coordination." I explained.

"Yes," she laughed gently, "I do remember Edward mentioning something about that."

We quietly watched the game for a few minuets. It wasn't really a game, just tossing the Frisbee back and forth, but with Emmett around everything managed to become a competition. He was currently blocking Edward in an attempt to stop him from catching the Frisbee.

"I'm really glad that you are here," Esme broke the silence. "All of you, but you especially Bella."

Esme must have interpreted my confused stare correctly. "Edward was never a very sociable child. The only friends that he's ever had before were Jasper and Rose. When I found out that Rose had a boyfriend I had become worried. It meant that there could be one less person in his life. Then Jasper found someone as well, I was afraid that Edward would lose Jasper to."

Esme watched her son run across the field, knocking into Jasper and laughing. She smiled. "Then he told me about you. I was so relieved to hear that he had a new friend, and then not only you, but Alice as well. Since Edward had met you he has actually made new friends. It is a little mind boggling."

I laughed. I hadn't been far off my original thought that Edward was a pretty lonely guy.

We both watched as Alice made an attempt to cover Edward. He just casually lifted her up and dropped her on her feet two feet to his right. One thing as certain, Edward wasn't awkward or friendless anymore.

"Let me get this straight, Edward made an attempt but I didn't get it, Alice is your roommate, right?"

"Yes."

"And Alice's dances with Rose?" Esme pointed out each person when she said their names.

"Uh huh."

"Alice met Jasper through Edward when you ran into both of them at the movies."

I nodded.

"And you and Edward have a class together, that's how you met?"

"Right," I said. "I also had a class with Emmett last year. We studied for the final together."

Esme shook her head and laughed. "It really is a small world when you think about it."

"Edward tells you everything?" I asked causally. She seemed to know an awful lot about everybody. My own mother had spoken on the phone with and even met Alice a few times and still, to that day, called her Amy.

"Yes," Esme nodded. "Edward has always been very open with his father and I. He calls me twice a week like clockwork and never fails to send his father an email while he's at work. Edward is very good about keeping in touch with his us."

I felt a stab of momentary guilt. I only ever talked to my mother when she called me and I rarely ever called Charlie. I felt like a bad person.

"He feels guilty about the way her treated you," Esme said out of nowhere. "Still."

"Really?" I asked. I knew that he had felt bad initially, but I never got the impression that Edward was wallowing in grief.

"He told me," I chose my words carefully, "why he acts like that. He told me about the way that most girls treat him. It made me think, was Edward ever hurt by one of those girls? Like, really hurt? It just seems like there's something more than he's telling me."

Esme regarded her son for a moment then shook her head. "No. I've never known Edward for have feelings for a girl—before." She put a strange emphasis on the word 'before'. "He's always been on the lookout for something special. No, Edward's attitude comes from pure frustration. He couldn't stand the way these girls would work so hard to get his attention and then turn their noses up when they found out that he wasn't what they wanted him to be. He just didn't want to deal with it anymore."

"Hmm," I said. I guess Edward was telling me the whole truth.

"Edward says that you two have a lot in common."

"A bit," I shrugged. "Not a ton."

"That's good," Esme smiled. "You don't want to have too much in common."

I gave her a questioning look.

"If you spend all of your time with people who are just like you then you never grow. You are never open to new things. If you have someone in your life who you have enough in common with so that you can always keep up a conversation, then that's great. But to have a real relationship you must have differences. They will force you to stretch your limits. To become the person who you will be."

I still must have looked confused. I knew that I felt confused.

"Let me explain. When I was a girl, I was a bit of a debutant. I only spent time with girls like me, who all they cared about was snagging a rich and attractive husband. When I met Carlisle I had to have him, nothing was going to stop me from that. The more time I spent with him the more I grew as a person. Carlisle told me that I could be more than some kind of trophy wife. He made me realize the full potential of who I wanted to be, not what my friends wanted to be. Carlisle changed me for the better in so many ways. I think that you can change Edward, and he can change you."

I stared at Esme. What was she implying? Was she saying that she wanted me to be with her son? Or was she only implying this change as Edward's friend? Probably friend.

I smiled at her, not really sure what to say. Esme put a hand on my shoulder. "You are a very beautiful and smart girl." She gave me one last smile and disappeared back into the house.

I stood there in shock for some time. I really couldn't make heads or tails out of what had just happened.

I looked back down at the game. After a few moments Edward looked up at me. He met my eyes and smiled.

"Guys, I'm out," Edward held up a hand and walked away from the group.

I sat down on one of the wicker chairs that were scattered across the porch. Edward came up the stairs and leaned on a post.

"You were talking to mom?"

I nodded.

"Having all of you guys here has made her so happy. I'm calling this her Mother's day present. My parents always wanted a big family." Edward's smile faded.

"What happened?" His sullen look concerned me.

"I was a difficult child—a hard labor. After me, my mom couldn't have any more kids." I saw the look in Edward's eyes. He blamed himself.

"Edward—"

He cut me off by shaking his head. "She's gotten over it. I have as well. She's a little more involved in my life than most mothers, but," Edward shrugged. "You really can't blame her. Rose and Jasper are like her children to. And I'm sure she'd be pretty ready to adopt you if you asked. She loves you all ready. Alice and Emmett to. Rose and Jasper are happy to know that she approves."

_But are _you_ happy to know that she approves?_ I couldn't help but ask in my head. _That's what I want to know._

Edward gave me that priceless crooked grin of his. My heart spluttered in my chest.

********

"Okay," Edward sighed. "What movies did you pick up Emmett?"

Emmett grinned and picked up the plastic bag that he had left by the door. "I got these just for you, Bella."

I gave Emmett a quizzical look, he just grinned at me.

"Sorry," Rose mouthed at me from behind Emmett's back.

Emmett dumped the bag of DVDs upside down onto the coffee table. The DVDs were mostly black with red writing. I picked up the top one. Dracula. I picked up another one. Queen of the Dammed.

"I'm sensing a theme," I said. Emmett couldn't let the vampire thing from weeks before go. The only way for him to make up losing to Edward was to mock me at every possible turn.

Edward sifted through the movies. "Did you get every vampire movie at the store?"

Emmett grinned. "Yup."

"Well," Edward handed the case of Interview with a Vampire to Jasper, who put it in the DVD player, "we'd better get started if plan on getting through half of these tonight."

Although it hadn't really surprised me, that same old thrill of excitement ran through me when Edward sat down next to me on one of the big white couches. We were sharing with Alice and Jasper, which meant that Edward and I were a bit closer than normal, about the distance we were at the restaurant. The only difference was now we were squished together _and _it was dark. Being near Edward in the dark made my skin buzz.

I watched the movie with mild interest. I had seen this one a few times and knew it pretty well. It was one of the few movies that I actually liked better than the book. It was also, in my opinion, the only example of Tom Cruise acting well.

Dracula was really nothing like the book. It had much more sex in it than I had expected. It made sitting next to Edward feel a little strange. We had watched movies with sex in them before, but we had never been quite so close together. Edward didn't seem to notice.

"Why don't vampires and werewolves ever get along?" I wondered out loud while watching Underworld.

"Natural enemies," Edward explained.

"But why?" Edward's answer wasn't good enough for me.

"I don't know. If I ever meet one, I'll ask," Edward teased.

I punched him in the shoulder. He ruffled my hair playfully.

Somewhere in between Queen of the Dammed and Nosferatu Edward had thrown his arm across my shoulder. I don't remember when it happened, I only remember glancing out the corner of my eye and seeing Esme nudge Carlisle in the ribs and nod at us. Both of them were smiling.

The later it got, the less I was able to follow the plots. It was all pretty simple, girl meets boy, boy turns out to be vampire, by struggles not to kill girl despite his instincts, and the end always varied depending on whoever wrote it. Either boy and girl make it out okay, or girl gets eaten. The latter was always my favorite.

I leaned my head and snuggled into Edward's warm body. _Enjoy it while you can,_ I told _myself. Sooner or later he's going to figure you out, and then he wont let you this close again._

Edward leaned his head against mine and played with a lock of my hair, uninterested in the movie.

"These movies are all the same," he muttered to me.

"Mmm," I agreed. I was much to tired for any real words.

* * *

**I missed Esme and Carlisle. I've been writing this story from Edward's Pov and, at the point I am up to anyway, we get a lot more of Esme and I have plans for Carlisle as well. Sadly this is the only time we will see them in this version. :(**

**So yeah, the vampire movie thing. I had originally written that scene for an older story that I had trashed. Emmett was making jokes about teaching Bella how to be a real vampire and whatnot. I liked the scene so I wrote it into this one. I have not seen a lot of vampire movies, thus being vague. I just thought I'd bring back the vampire joke and make another one about werewolves. You've gotta have some throwbacks to the original series. Fun fun fun. We are getting closer to the end. **

**Thanks for reading! :)  
**


	11. La Push

**Disclaimer:** Do I really have to write one of these for every chapter? I'm not clear on the rules here.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**La Push**

The first time you wake up in an unfamiliar room it is scary and disorienting. Your heart races and you go through all of the terrible things that could have possibly happened to you the night before. The second time you wake up in an unfamiliar room it is just annoying. All you can think is, _not again_.

Unlike my previous experience, I had not consumed any alcohol the night before and was able to remember the events leading up to me waking up in an unfamiliar place. I was at Edwards' parents house. Judging by the fact that the room looked lived in, I was in Edward's room, again.

I remembered falling asleep while watching the movie. Well, not really. I remembered being really tired and then I didn't remember anything else so I _must_ have fallen asleep. Edward must have carried me up here. Damn. That was the second time that he had carried me and I hadn't managed to be conscious for either occasion.

I rolled over and bumped into something. The something groaned and moved. I turned on my other side to look at what had been lying next to me.

While I had been wrapped up in the thick comforter, Edward had fallen asleep on top of the blankets. He was still in his clothes from the night before.

Edward opened his eyes and looked at me. He blinked a few times, as if trying to determine whether or not he was actually awake.

For a moment I tried not to think to hard and just absorb the fact that I was waking up next to Edward. His beautiful green eyes were shining in the ridiculously bright light of his bedroom. I smiled to myself. I had a theory that Edward just rolled out of bed in the morning; taking one glance at his hair I was able to prove myself correct.

"It's morning, isn't it?" he asked me. His face looked tentative, as of he was awaiting anger of some sort to come from me.

I nodded.

Edward sat up and was suddenly on the other side of the room, head in his hands, and his back to me. "Oh god, Bella. I am so sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."

I sat myself up on the bed. "For what to happen, Edward?"

Edward blindly gestured at the bed. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. When I brought you up here last night I had meant to go and sleep in one of the guest rooms, but when I put you down—well—you had a pretty firm grip on me. You wouldn't let go."

I blushed. I imagined that I also may have said something, but I doubted that Edward would tell me if I had.

"I thought that I could wait until you let go, but I must have been more tired than I thought." Edward's face was still covered by his hands. "I am so sorry."

I got up out of the bed, hoping that if I moved away from it then Edward would calm down a little bit. I smoothed out the now very crumpled dress and ran my fingers through my tangled hair.

"Edward," I said plainly, "I don't mind. Don't be embarrassed. It's perfectly fine. What I _am_ concerned about is what I am going to tell my father."

Edward dropped his hands and turned to look at me. "My mom called your dad last night. She said that you and Alice were exhausted and were going to stay in one of the guest rooms. She was half right, Alice stayed in the guest room, with Jasper." Edward rolled his eyes. He was beginning to relax a little.

"Emmett and Rose?" I asked.

"Disappeared to god knows where," Edward said. "I didn't want to know, and I still don't."

"That's twice now," I said, referring to my narcolepsy. "I seem to fall asleep a lot when I am around you." If I didn't tease him then he would go back to being guilty.

Edward laughed softly. A delicate smile played across his lips. I was missing something.

"It's weird," I went on, "I am not the kind of person who falls asleep anywhere. I really can only sleep in my own bed. I am usually to nervous to sleep anywhere else."

"I guess that means that I just make you comfortable," Edward said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "You do."

********

It was incredibly sunny that day and it was decided that, after Alice and I had a trip back home to change clothes, that we would all go down to the beach at La Push. I hadn't been on the reservation since I was twelve and old enough to stay home alone when Charlie went off on his fishing trips in the summer.

As usual, Rose and Emmett were already down on the beach when we got there. Rose was sprawled out on a blanket, reading what looked like a romance novel. Emmett was off some distance tossing a football in the air and catching it.

It was the sunniest day that I could ever remember Forks having, so I took the opportunity and spent a few hours laying on my stomach, soaking in the sun and reading Dune, which I had only picked up on Edward's request that I mix some science fiction into my diet.

Rose nudged me in the arm. "Hey, I heard that Edward never made it back down the stairs last night. What happened?"

"Nothing," I shrugged. "I was asleep."

"But he was still there when you woke up, huh?"

How did she know this? I hadn't even told Alice.

"Um, yeah. He was. It was no big deal. Edward was a little embarrassed, but," I shrugged, not really sure how to finish my sentence.

"Alright, fine." Rose smiled coyly. "Be that way." Rose moved away from me still smiling.

I felt confused. I really hadn't said anything to anyone about what had happened. That meant, that either Alice had just put a few pieces together, or that Edward had told Emmett or Jasper what had happened.

I looked over at the boys. They were playing catch some distance off with Emmett's football. I could see that Edward was talking quite a bit while the other two just listened. Part of me wanted to get closer to hear just what Edward was talking to them about, but I had the feeling that if I went over there, then Edward would stop talking.

I sighed, deciding that I was imagining things again and went back to my book.

********

"Bella."

I looked up, startled out from between the pages of my book. Edward was crouching in front of me, looking an awful lot like a lion about to pounce on its prey. He was smiling.

"What?"

"I was wondering of you wanted to get away from these goofballs," Edward nodded over to our friends who had been occupied for the last hour trying to bury Emmett in the sand, "and go for a walk with me down on the beach. There was—uh—something that I wanted to talk to you about." Edward's smile wavered as his said that last bit.

_Uh oh,_ I thought. _That can't be good. I'm screwed._

"Sure," I smiled.

Edward helped me to my feet and watched as I brushed the sand off of myself. I hate sand.

We started to head north, slowly meandering up the coastline. Edward said nothing for a while. I just waited for the bomb to drop.

"Bella," he began. I could hear the resignation in his voice. I tried not to cringe. "Bella, I am really sorry about what happened last night."

"Edward," I let out a sigh of relief, "I told you already; I'm not upset. Stop worrying."

"I just—I just didn't want to give you the wrong idea." Edward's eyes were watching our feet.

My heart fell. _Oh, he didn't want to give me the wrong idea. Right. _"You didn't," I replied honestly. "I know you better than that."

Edward laughed. He looked up at me and I could see the relief in his eyes. "Good. I was afraid that I might have screwed up the dynamic of our friendship."

I internally cringed at that stupid word.

"I just didn't want to affect what we have."

_So what he's saying is: he likes us the way we are. Nothing more. _

"You didn't," I smiled again. I was getting really good at covering my emotions when it came to Edward.

As Edward and I walked I became aware of two figures that were walking south down the beach, approaching us. As we drew closer I could make out that the two extremely tall figures were boys who probably lived on the reservation.

When we were at a distance of fifty yards I began to grow nervous. The shorter of the two elbowed the taller one in the ribs and said something to him. The taller one grinned evilly at us. "Hey Cullen," he shouted. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"It's a free country," Edward shouted back condescendingly. "I can be here if I want to."

"Oh," the taller boy kept advancing on us, "we'll see about that."

Edward grinned cockily. "Bella, move," he muttered to me. I moved away from Edward as quickly as I could. I had never seen Edward pick a fight with someone and I wasn't sure if he would be able to win against this exceptionally tall person.

The tall boy barreled toward Edward, his friend just kept walking at a normal pace, smiling. Edward stood his ground until the last moment, moving out of the way just in time, tripping the boy. He tumbled over and landed on his back in the sand. Edward put his foot on the boy's chest and smiled down at him empirically.

"Ha," was all Edward said.

"Fine, you win," the boy grimaced. "This time."

Edward took his foot away and offered a hand to help the boy up. To my surprise the boy took it.

"As I recall, I won last time to. And the time before that."

The boy sneered and knocked the sand off of himself.

"You may be stronger than me, Jacob, but I am smarter than you." Edward laughed and clapped this Jacob on the shoulder, the way one would greet an old friend.

By that point the other boy was upon us. "Hey Edward," he said, giving Edward a good spirited punch in the arm.

"Hey Seth. Long time no see."

"Well, you have been off at school, man. It's not we are going to drive all the way out there to go and see you."

"I think we should," Jacob said, he was eyeing me. "The girls seem to be much hotter where you are."

Edward laughed and turned to me, motioning me over. "Guys, this is Bella. She's chief Swan's daughter. Bella, this is Seth Clearwater and Jacob Black."

"Hi," I waved shyly at the towering boys.

"Bella and I already know each other," Jacob said looking smug.

"You do?" Edward asked me rather than Jacob. I shrugged.

"Yeah, we go way back, Bella and I." Jacob smiled at me. "I didn't recognize you without mud in your hair."

I narrowed my eyes at Jacob. I remembered him all right. He was the annoying son of Billy Black, Charlie's best friend. I had been elated when I had found out that I didn't have to go down to the reservation anymore, mostly because it meant that I wouldn't be forced to play with Jacob anymore.

Jacob laughed at my scowl. "I see you do remember me."

Edward laughed to.

"Where's Jasper?" Seth asked.

Edward pointed behind us. "Back there with his girlfriend."

"Hey is—" Jacob wolf whistled and moved his hands to simulate a curvy torso, "—with him?"

Edward made a disgusted face. "If I am to assume that by that crude gesture you meant Rosalie, then yes she is there to."

"Excellent," Jacob said. "Hey Seth, lets go down and visit the Hale's and leave Edward alone with his girl." Jacob started off in the direction that Edward and I had come from.

Seth rolled his eyes and gave me an apologetic look and followed after his friend.

Once they were gone Edward laughed and shook his head.

"You're not going to tell him about Emmett?" I asked.

"No," Edward was sill laughing. "Let the little twerp find out for himself. C'mon," Edward gestured me forward. "I wanted to show you the tide pools."

We angled toward the ocean and I realized that Edward was drawing me toward a mass of rocks that were along the shore.

"Tide pools?" I asked skeptically.

I watched as Edward leapt from the sand up onto the first rock. I smelled an accident on the horizon.

Edward held out his hand to me. "I'll help you. Don't worry; I wont let anything happen to you."

I placed my hand in Edward's. "Promise?"

"Promise." Edward grabbed my hand tightly and pulled me up onto the rock he was standing on.

I landed mere few inches away from him. So close that all I would have to do would be to stand on my tiptoes and I would be kissing him. _No Bella, don't think about kissing him._

"Steady?" Edward asked.

"Yup," I lied.

Edward let go of my hand and leapt across to the next rock. He turned back and slowly helped my make my way across to where he was standing.

This was treacherous. The rocks that weren't filled with puddles were covered in seaweed. I knew that Edward was just fighting fate, I was going to fall sooner or later.

Edward showed me all of the little things that were living in the tide pools. He pointed out the crabs and the tiny fish that would get stuck there when the tide went out.

He showed me this green creature that I thought was a flower. Edward told me to stick my finger in its center. If Edward hadn't guessed my reaction I would have fallen over backwards when the green thing closed up around my finger. Edward had chuckled softly in my ear, holding me up.

We made our way back toward the sand. The firm ground. I got a little too excited when I got close. I didn't wait to see if Edward was near me and I went to step across a rock without help. The rock I put my foot on wobbled. I quickly stepped back onto the previous rock, but I lost my balance and fell forward. I caught myself on my hands, suspended between two rocks and a pond.

"Bella," Edward shouted, his voice frantic. "Are you all right?"

"Well," I said. "I'm not wet."

I pushed myself back up onto my feet and winced at the pain. That was not good. I found another rock to lean against, afraid to put any weight on my ankle.

Edward was at my side in a second. He helped me over the last few rocks and sat me down on the last one, kneeling before me in the sand. He gently pulled my shoe off and took my sock with it.

"Wiggle your toes for me," he said, looking stern.

I wiggled my toes for him a little more than necessary. I was trying to prove that nothing was wrong before I had to argue it.

He touched certain parts of my foot and ankle. "Does this hurt?"

"No," I shook my head. "It's fine. Look," I rolled my ankle around. It hurt a bit, but not like I had broken anything. "I just tweaked it. I've done it before."

My words couldn't coax the concerned look out of Edward's eyes. He wouldn't stop frowning.

"What's the matter?" I sighed.

"I just feel bad. I promised that I wouldn't let anything happen to you." His voice sounded a little sad.

"Edward, nothing happened to me."

"Yes, you got hurt," his voice was indignant.

"Yeah, it's not like this is the first time that I've done this," I wiggled my foot, hiding my wince at the pain. "I just need to keep off of it for a few hours and I will be fine. If I don't put any pressure on it I should be as good as new tomorrow morning."

Edward was still looking at my foot, which he was cradling in his hands. "I should take you home," he said quietly.

"Edward, no." I took my foot away and pulled my sock and shoe back on. "I am staying here and having fun with everybody else."

Edward smiled at my stubbornness. "Fine," he sighed standing up.

"Well," I put my hands on Edward's shoulders to help me stand up on my one good foot, "we better get going if I am going to hobble back down the beach before the sun goes down." The sky was already orange and purple.

Edward shook his head. He turned around and hoisted my up onto his back.

"Edward," I grumbled, "you are not going to be able to carry me all the way back like this."

"Bella, last night I carried you up two flights of stairs while you were unconscious. I think I can manage to carry you half a mile down a flat beach."

"Fine." I got a better grip on his shoulders, unconsciously pressing my chest into his back.

Edward took a deep breath, squeezed the under side of my knees and started off down the beach.

I had to admit that it was kinda fun. I hadn't ridden on anybody's back since Charlie said I had gotten too big. I teased Edward by calling him my horsey, to which he obligingly neighed.

It didn't take long before I could make out six figures on the beach. From what I could tell Jacob seemed to be bothering Rosalie and Alice while Seth played catch with Emmett and Jasper. As we approached I saw Emmett staring at us then he leaned over to say something to Jasper. Jasper gave Emmett and hard look and hit him on the back on the head with the football.

I told myself to thank Jasper later, no matter what Emmett had said.

Before Emmett could make a comment to either of us Edward said, "She fell and twisted her ankle." No misconceptions about the nature of Edward's and my relationship allowed. If I can't have them then nobody can.

Edward sat me down on a log next to the fire pit. "Take your shoe off again. I want to make sure that it's not swelling."

"I'm perfectly fine Edward," I grumbled. I took my shoe off anyway. I couldn't say no to him.

Edward prodded my foot for another few seconds. "Fine. Don't get up. If you want anything then ask somebody. If I see you try to stand up then I am going to take you home."

"Yes mommy," I muttered under my breath.

Edward gave me a cheeky smile. I stuck my tongue out at him.

The boys collected driftwood and dropped it into the fire pit in front of me. Jacob had the fire going before the sun had set all the way.

The darker it got the more I was able to see the stars. Edward dropped a blanket over my shoulders and sat down next to me. He spent the next twenty minuets pointing out the various constellations to me. I tried to follow the paths that Edward's hand traced, but I was lost in the glittering sky.

Jacob started to tell stories. I moved off the log and closer to the fire, leaning against Edward's knees. The smoke wound up high into the sky as Jacob told us the old stories of his ancestors. I could almost see them coming alive in the fire before me.

I had been to so focused on Jacob's story and so entranced by the fire that I hadn't even notice a first when Edward's fingers started to press into the back of my neck. I instinctively leaned my head forward, allowing Edward to work out the kinks in my neck and the knots in my shoulders. It's true what they say; piano players are good with their hands.

Edward kept rubbing my shoulders through Jacob's story and then Emmett's less mystical story, which involved the phrase, 'walked into a bar.'

I leaned my head back onto Edward's knees and smiled up at him. Edward's eyes were dancing in the firelight. He played with my hair for a moment, just smiling at me.

"I think that I should get you home before you fall asleep on me again."

"Mmm." I didn't want to admit that I was tired, but I honestly didn't have the energy to form a sentence.

"C'mon. It's getting late." Edward handed me my shoes and I struggled to put them on. I really was extremely tired.

I made a move to stand up, but was halted by Edward's hands. "No you don't. You are not walking on that ankle."

Oops. I had forgotten all about my accident. If I had gotten up I may have done some more unnecessary damage.

Edward knelt down next to me and wrapped the blanket tighter around my body. I didn't even register Edward's intentions until he had already scooped me up into his arms. I squeaked and grabbed onto his neck for dear life.

I tried hard not to focus on how close I was to Edward. I could feel him everywhere. His heart hammered against my shoulder. I was completely drowned in his smell. I felt dizzy.

It was all over too soon. Edward had managed to get the car door open while still holding me and gently dropped me into the seat.

The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was Alice leaning forward from the back seat to congratulate me for actually being awake this time when Edward had picked me up.

********

"Bella," Edward's soft velvety voice came through the thick fog of my dream.

I opened my eyes to Edward's smiling face. We were sitting in the car. I glanced around and realized that we were parked outside of my house. Alice and Jasper were already out of the car.

"Don't move," Edward said. "I'll come around and get you."

Edward carried me up the front porch, but I insisted on being set down before I opened the door. I did not want Charlie to see Edward carrying me. I would hop.

"Hey dad," I called as Edward helped me through the front door.

"Bells, what happened to you?" Charlie looked frantic for a moment as Edward lowered me onto the couch.

"Nothing dad. I just rolled my ankle. It's no big deal."

"Do you have any of those elastic bandages?" Edward asked my father in an entirely professional tone.

"Yeah," Charlie nodded. He headed up the stairs to the medicine cabinet, taking no notice of Alice and Jasper standing in the kitchen as he passed.

Edward and Jasper were both looking around. I realized that there must be some fascination being inside the chief's house. Much to my dismay, Edward seemed very focused on the mantle over the fireplace.

"How old were you when this was taken?" Edward asked, pointing to a very embarrassing picture of me.

"Uh, 3rd grade."

Edward smiled. "You were precious."

Precious? Who uses the word precious?

Charlie returned with a long flesh colored piece of elastic. I kicked my shoe off again and Edward wrapped the bandage around my foot.

"Too tight?" he asked.

"No, it's perfect. I could have done it myself, you know?"

Edward helped me up onto my feet. "I'm sure that you have had plenty of practice."

I ignored Edward's comment and gently put some weight down on my hurt ankle. No pain. I smiled at Edward. "Good as new."

Edward laughed. He walked over to Charlie and shook his hand. "Chief Swan. It's good to see you again."

Charlie looked slightly flustered. "Oh—wh—It's good to see you to, Edward. Jasper," he nodded to the blond. I doubted that my father had ever had a male under the age of forty in this house.

"We'd better go. Bella needs her sleep. She was unconscious in the car," Edward explained. "I just wanted to make sure that she could get around without my help."

I carefully walked across the living room, heading in the direction of the stairs. "I can handle myself perfectly fine without you," I said indignantly to Edward. He grinned at me. "I'm going to bed."

I started up the first stair.

"Good night, Bella."

I turned to look back at Edward. I couldn't read his smile, nor did I try. "Good night. See you tomorrow."

Alice gave Jasper a quick peck on the cheek and then followed behind me up the stairs as the boys left.

* * *

**Bella falls asleep, seems to be a popular theme for me. I bet you are all dying to know what she says in her sleep, huh? Well, I haven't written that far with Edward yet so I am not exactly sure. I'm dying to know as well. Well, not dying, but curious to see what my brain will come up with. I'm just rambling.**

**Jacob being some kind of an idiot is also a popular theme for me. The idea of Jacob and Edward being friends made me snicker, so I had to put it in. As with the idea of Jacob hitting on Rose. After Breaking Dawn that idea was just too funny to pass up. Well, it was too funny for me anyway. Whatever.**

**Every one seems so impatient for Edward to man up and ask Bella out. You can only imagine how Bella feels. Well, you only have two more chapters so the wait will soon be over.  
**

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	12. Reality Check

**Disclamer:** I do not own this or the movie Amelie.

Okay, this one is going to be a little different. As always _italics_ will be Bella's thoughts, but _italics_ in "quotes" is the movie translated from French. I'm sure that some of you out there speak French, but I thought it would be nicer if everyone knew what point I was trying to make. Besides, Bella is reading the subtitles, if you would like to think about it that way.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Reality Check**

Alice was fluttering around my house. She could not control her state of panic. Tonight being Alice's last night in Forks she had been invited back to the Hale's for dinner again. She was terrified because tonight she would be meeting Jasper's grandmother. According to Edward, Jasper's grandmother didn't approve of much, so she better watch out.

Alice couldn't stop bouncing and waving her arms in the air. "She's going to hate me. And somehow I'll never be allowed to see Jasper again."

"Don't his parents like you?" I asked lazily. It was one in the afternoon and I still hadn't gotten out of my pajamas.

"Yes," Alice looked out of the kitchen window intensely.

"Then what's the problem? If they like you then it shouldn't matter what some bitter old crone thinks about you."

Alice gave me a pained look and began to pace again. I rolled my eyes.

The phone rang. I ran into the kitchen to get it.

"Hello?" I squeaked into the phone.

"That was a weird noise," Edward's voice said on the other end.

"I wasn't thinking when I got up," I grumbled. "I moved a little too fast to grab the phone."

"You didn't hurt your ankle again? I could have waited." He sounded exasperated with me.

"I didn't know that it was going to be you," I tried my best to sound frustrated, but I couldn't help my smile.

"Then why else would you have ran to get the phone?" Edward asked cheekily.

I had a brief urge to hang up for this comment, just to put him in his place, but Edward's joking tone did no more than make me blush furiously. "What do you want?" I snapped.

"World peace, a steady economy and an Aston Martin. Why? Are you some kind of genie?"

"No. What was the last one?"

"It's a car Bella," Edward sighed.

"Why a car?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I like shiny things." I could almost hear Edward roll his eyes. "Now what was your question?"

"Well you obviously had some motivation in calling me, is it too much to asked what that is?"

"I was wondering of you wanted to do something tonight."

I noticed that Alice had stopped pacing. She was standing right across the counter from me, doing her best to hear Edward's voice. "Sure. I guess it's just us again tonight. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. You're always welcome to come over here, if you want."

While Edward was talking Alice ran around to the fridge and pointed to a yellow piece of paper held up by a magnet with a Chinese food restaurant number on it. I looked at the piece of paper. It was Charlie's schedule for the month. She was pointing to that days date. Charlie was working until midnight.

"Why don't you come over here," I said automatically. Alice grinned at me.

"Sure. That sounds like fun."

Edward was coming over to my house. He was going to be alone with me in my house. Why was I freaking out? We had been alone together in my apartment. I guessed that I had just gotten into the habit of freaking out whenever Edward was involved in anything.

"I can cook, I guess. Oh, and I have this movie here that I've been meaning to force you to watch."

"Oh boy," Edward's voice teasingly lacked enthusiasm. "When do you want me?"

What an unfortunate question. I hardly thought that 'Right now,' would be an appropriate answer.

I grabbed a notepad and wrote _What time are you leaving?_ and handed it to Alice. Alice took my pen and wrote _6:30 _under my question.

"Is seven okay?" I would need some time of my own to freak out.

"Sounds great, I'll see you then."

"Bye."

I was barely able to hang up the phone before Alice's shriek of excitement pierced through the kitchen.

"This is it," she said with wide eyes. "This is the night. Tonight, Bella. I can feel it." She bounced on her toes.

"Alice, how can you tell?" I 'm sure that the exasperation was clear in my voice.

"I don't know," she sang, "but I just do. Oh, I've got to find you something to wear." She hurried towards the steps.

"Alice wait," I stopped her. She unwillingly turned to face me. "Look, Edward is just coming over to my house. I'm not meeting any parents or anything. Dress me if you must, but PLEASE keep it casual."

Alice looked distant. I wasn't sure of she and even heard me.

"I have the perfect outfit," she murmured and disappeared up the stairs.

********

Alice was right; she did have the perfect outfit. For once Alice and I agreed on what I was wearing. She had just put me in a normal pair of jeans and a dark blue v-neck sweater. I looked pretty, but not overdone. I was happy.

I hadn't even started cooking anything when Alice had left. I didn't know why, but I wanted to be busy when Edward arrived. If I didn't have anything to do then I would have been sitting at the window waiting for him to drive up, and that screamed desperate.

Edward knocked on the door while I was busy cutting carrots.

"It's open," I yelled. Running to the door would also look desperate.

Edward walked into the kitchen behind me but I did not immediately turn to look at him, choosing instead to keep my eyes trained on what I was doing.

"What are you doing?" Edward peered over my shoulder.

I motioned to the chopped baby carrots in front of me. "Food. I'm making it."

Edward looked around. "You are cooking without supervision?"

"Yes?" More of a question than an affirmation. I knew that he was trying to tease me, but I wanted to see where it was going.

"You might set something on fire. Look at that knife you're holding. You still have all of your fingers, right?" He reached out and grabbed my wrist. I batted him away. He was laughing.

"Yes, I do Mr. Smarty-pants." I pointed the rather large knife at Edward. He stopped laughing. "And for your information I have been cooking since I was twelve and I have yet to have an accident."

Edward threw his hands up in surrender and backed away from me. I went back to my chopping. Edward seated himself across the counter from me, carefully watching the movement of my knife.

"So what are you making, exactly?"

"Spaghetti," I shrugged. "Nothing fancy. Charlie doesn't keep a lot of stuff in the house for me to work with."

Edward's fingers slowly crept across the tile counter. I smacked them with the flat of my blade before he was able to steal away any pieces of carrots. Edward pulled his hand away, a look of shock at my cat-like reflexes. I grinned at him.

"Don't mess with me," I waved the knife around again.

Edward laughed.

I tried not to look too smug as I swept the carrots off of the cutting board and into a bowl of lettuce.

Edward and I chatted while I finished cooking. The talk was our normal stuff. We made plans for the next day. Edward noticed that I wasn't limping and I got to say "I told you so" to him, which made me very happy.

When the food was ready I just tossed the plate across the counter to him, sitting down at the table just suddenly felt way too formal. Edward seemed to be impressed with my cooking, although he did not say much. He kept staring at his plate as though the secrets of the universe were written somewhere in the spaghetti sauce.

I desperately wanted to know what was going through Edward's mind, but I knew not to ask. If I did I would just get a smile and a kind "oh nothing." It wasn't like he was thinking about me anyway, so why did I care?

For some reason everything that we did that night had an awkward aura hanging around it. Maybe Alice was right; maybe this was the night, the night when all of my fantasies came true. Maybe that was why I couldn't stop blushing. Maybe that was why my imagination was running away with me.

I tried to hide my blush as I settled next to Edward on the couch. This had never seemed strange at my apartment, there must be something going on.

The DVD menu came up and I clicked through it to make sure that the English subtitles were on. I didn't know about Edward, by my French was pretty pathetic.

Amelie had been my favorite movie about five minuets into the first time I saw it. I identified with the French girl. She had very few friends and retreated to her imagination. She would rather live in a world that she created then try to deal with her real problems.

The movie had actually scared me a little bit the first time I saw it. The comparison to my own life seemed uncanny at the time. But at that moment, sitting on the couch next to Edward, it scared me even more.

Sometimes I forgot that Amelie was a love story. There was so much other plot that sometimes you forgot. But now I remembered. I remembered Amelie's awkwardness. I remembered her improbable fantasies. And I remembered how she was too afraid of ruining the fantasy to gain the reality. _"The last thing Amelie wants is a reality check."_

"_You mean that she would rather imagine herself relating to an absent person than build relationships with those around her?"_ Yeah, that line always stuck with me. That line had described me in high school.

Somewhere in the movie I had become so entranced that I had slid off the couch and positioned myself of the floor, my knees pulled up to my chest in order to fit in the small space between the coffee table and the couch.

Edward had slid to the floor next to me, casually throwing his arm across my shoulder. I mentally thanked that waitress, Jessica. Without her I wouldn't be sharing this newfound closeness with Edward.

On the screen Amelie and the glass man were looking at the painting that showed up in quite a few of the scenes.

"_So that's the one, there, the guy who raises his hand?_

"_Yes."_

"_She's in love with him."_

"_Yes."_

"_The time has come for her to take some real risks." _

"_Well yes, she's thinking about it. She's thinking of a stratagem."_

"_Yes, she likes stratagems, doesn't she?"_

"_Yes."_

"_She's a bit of a coward."_

I shook my head. For a brief moment I had thought that the movie was talking about me. I was the one who was in love. I was the coward. I was the one who was afraid to take risks. The man I loved was sitting next to me with his arm around me and I was too scared to do anything about it.

When I shook my head Edward gave me a funny look. For a second my heart stopped. _Maybe…No!_ I gave Edward a shrug and returned to stare at the movie screen. He probably thought that I was just going crazy, I felt like I was going crazy.

I managed to kick my insanities out of my head for a little while. I was even able to let some insecurities wash away from me and lean my head against Edward's shoulder. Edward twisted his fingers through my hair. I suppressed the shudder that ran through me when Edward's fingertips occasionally came into contact with the back of my neck.

"_So, my little Amelie, you don't have bones made of glass. You can take life's hard knocks. If you let this chance pass, eventually, your heart will become as dry and brittle as my skeleton. So, go get him for Pete's sake!"_

The words sunk into my brain. I didn't even register the end of the movie. The cheerful accordion music and happiness failed to penetrate my conscious at I swirled these words around in my brain.

I didn't even realize that the movie had ended until I heard Edward say my name.

"Bella," he waved a hand in front of my eyes. "Are you in there?"

I stared at him. Stared right into those emerald green eyes that I loved so much. Stared right through Edward. I realized at that moment that if the something that I had imagined was going to happened tonight, then I was going to have to be the one to instigate it.

Summoning a bravery that I didn't know that I had access to, I leaned forward and pressed my lips into Edward's.

There were numerous reactions that I had taken into consideration before I kissed him, but what I got wasn't one of them. Edward had turned to stone beneath me. Almost instantaneously I pulled back, knowing that I had done something wrong. Edward wasn't responding.

I looked into his eyes. They were blank. Blank like the first time I had ever saw him, when he had caught me staring. Blank as in devoid of any human emotion. Edward had turned completely into a statue.

Reality threatened to crush me then and there. What had I done? Edward didn't like me. Had I just ruined what could have been a perfectly good friendship?

My hand flew to my mouth. "Oh god," I gasped, getting to my feet.

Edward seemed to register my movement and come back to life. He looked up at me, his expression confused.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. I backed away from him, tripping on my father's armchair.

"Bella," Edward said softly, his hand reaching out to me as I righted myself.

I didn't give him the chance to say anything. I couldn't handle the embarrassment and the rejection at the same time. I had to get out.

I ran up the stairs and into my room, managing somehow not to trip. The tears spilled over the second my door closed behind me. I collapsed onto my bed and sobbed, the dry heaving kind of sobs that hurt your chest. I could feel my whole body shaking. I had done it; I had wrecked my life. I could no longer have that simple friendship with Edward. I had destroyed any chance of being just his friend.

Edward had rejected me. Edward didn't have those kinds of feeling for me. Of course he didn't. Why would he? Why would he want a girl like me when most girls where treating each other apart to get his attention. I was just his friend. He had said so numerous times. _Friend_ Bella. Didn't you hear that? He wouldn't have called you that if he hadn't meant it. Edward is just your friend.

I didn't know how long I had been crying before I registered the sound of voices coming form downstairs. I didn't bother trying to decipher how many voices there were, I just kept crying.

The bedroom door opened.

"Bella," Alice's voice was quiet and weary. She knew that something was wrong. I felt her weight press into the mattress as she sat down next to my feet. "Bella, what happened?"

"Nothing," I lied, muttering into my pillow. I attempted to dry my eyes on the pillowcase, knowing that any attempt to hide my tears would be pointless. Alice was much smarter than that.

"Bella, if nothing happened then why did Edward call me saying that he screwed up and that I needed to get over here now? What did Edward do?"

"Nothing," I laughed. This time I was telling the truth.

"Bella," I could hear the warning tone in Alice's voice. She was trying to be patient with me because I was upset, but she was already wearing thin.

I turned over and sat up, clutching my pillow to my chest. "It's true. Edward didn't do anything. I kissed him and he didn't do anything." Alice gasped, but I ignored her. "He just stared at me like I was some kind of alien or something. But he didn't _do_ anything. Nope, that was all me."

"Bella, you didn't." Alice sounded almost as upset as I felt.

"I did," I nodded. I let out another laugh. The devastation had crushed me entirely. Alice was going to have to put me in a little padded room with one of those self-hugging jackets. I could be heavily medicated for the rest of my life. Maybe Edward would feel bad and come and visit me twice a year on my birthday and at Christmas. That was the future I now had to look forward to.

"Bella," Alice said carefully. "I have to go downstairs. Are you going to be okay for a few minuets?"

"Yep," I said in the overly cheerful voice that I had adopted. I lay down on the bed and made a big show of pulling the blankets over myself, despite still being dressed.

Alice nodded slowly and stood up. "Okay, stay here. I'll be back in a few minuets."

The calm way that Alice walked out of the room momentarily made me fear for Edward's wellbeing, but all of the energy I had lost during my crying bout had caught up with me and I fell asleep long before Alice came back into my room.

* * *

**Ooo, sorry. That was mean, I know. Well, they can't have it easy. These things never are (so I've been told). Maybe these kids will get lucky and it will work. Or maybe not. You wont find out until next time. Ha ha ha! (I'm practicing my evil laugh)**

**BTW, Amelie, fantastic movie. If you haven't seen it go out and get it. Really really really amazing. Yes, it's in French and you have to read the subtitles, but that's no excuse. Skip fan fiction for a night a watch a really fun movie.  
**

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	13. Ever After

Sorry thats its been so long. Finals took over my life.

**Disclaimer**: I've borrowed these toys and its time that I give them back.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Ever After**

"Bella, wake up." Alice's voice was much gentler and non-demanding than when she usually woke me up. At first I wondered at her sudden kindness, and then I remembered.

I reluctantly peeled my eyelids apart. Alice was sitting on my bed; one had placed gently on my shoulder. She was already dressed.

"I'm leaving in ten minuets," she informed me.

I had forgotten. Rose and Alice had made plans to go to Seattle on our last day of break before heading back to school. Edward and I had opted out, saying that we had better things to do than follow Alice and Rose around clothing stores. This, of course, meant that I would be riding back home with Edward. A situation that, previous to the night before, I would have been excited about.

For a brief moment I wondered if Alice had decided that I was coming to Seattle as well, a way for me to avoid any more embarrassment with Edward, but I knew that I could never be ready to leave in ten minuets, so she must have just been informing me of her departure.

"Have fun," I sighed, thinking about the inevitably awkward car ride that I would be facing the next day.

Alice stood. "You need to get up."

I rolled onto my side and glanced at my alarm clock. It was nearly nine-thirty. "Why do I have to get up all of a sudden?"

Alice gave me a look filled with so many emotions that it was difficult to separate them. Pity. Worry. Empathy. "You and Edward have plans today."

"What?" I shrieked at her. In the back of my mind I vaguely remembered Edward and I saying that we were going to do something today. Edward had said that he wanted to show me something, but he had never said what. "Alice, I'm not going."

Alice sighed. "That's what I told Edward last night, but he was adamant. He said that he'd be here at ten-thirty and he didn't care if you were ready for him or not."

I leaned back in my bed, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting.

"Bella," Alice chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes wrinkled with concern. "I don't know why Edward wants this. To be honest, last night I was so upset with him that I didn't even bother to ask. Bella, from what I can tell, Edward is giving you a chance to make things normal. It seems like he is willing to forget the whole thing and go on with just being friends."

I sniffed back the tears that were threatening to spill over again at her words. I could keep Edward as a friend; I just had to admit that I could never have anything else.

Alice grabbed her duffle bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I have to go. Look, it's your decision, but Edward is planning on being here in a hour." She kissed me on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow." Alice walked to the door and glanced back at me. "I'll give you a call from the hotel to."

I could tell that she felt guilty about leaving me like this, but I didn't really care. "Bye," I said. _Thanks for abandoning me in my time of need._

Alice glanced at the floor. "Bye," she almost whispered.

I didn't move or even think until I heard the front door close and Rosalie's car pull away from the curb.

After a good fifteen minuets of deliberation I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. I knew it would be no use arguing with Edward. If he was determined to forget this whole thing then I guess that I should be thankful.

Noticing that Alice hadn't laid out any clothes for me I guessed that Edward hadn't let her in on his plans anymore than he had me. I tugged the pair of jeans that I had not gone to sleep in and the first t-shirt that I laid my hands on. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and grabbed my converse. I was just pulling on my shoes when I saw the silver Volvo park in front of my house.

I looked down at Edward. He seemed unsure of whether he should go ring the doorbell or wait for me to come out on my own. He chose to wait in the car, which was fine with me. I was in no hurry to face the music.

I wandered downstairs at my own pace. It wasn't even quite ten-thirty yet so I could take my time. I pulled a granola bar out of the cabinet and took my time methodically chewing each bite until it was pulverized into a fine power. At ten thirty-five I pulled on my jacket and opened the door.

Edward was leaning against the passenger door, waiting for me. He gave me a cheerful smile that I did not have the heart to return. Upon taking in my appearance, Edward gave a slight wince before he managed to cover up his reactions. I must have looked worse than I thought.

I had made a point to avoid any mirrors that morning. I knew that I had managed to wash the tear stains off of my face, but my eyes still felt a little dry and sore from the previous night's crying bout. I wondered if they were still red. Or maybe he was wincing at the dark circles under my eyes. I didn't bother to find out. I just slid into the seat and stared out the window.

The car ride was silent. A few times Edward took a deep breath and opened his mouth as if to say something, but always cut himself off with a sigh.

We took roads out of Forks that I did not recognize. It was a while before I realized that we were heading up the mountain towards the woods. It should have bothered me that I didn't have the faintest idea where Edward was taking me, but it didn't. For all I knew he was planning on murdering me and dumping the body in the forest. I really didn't care if he did. I doubt that I would have struggled.

We parked along six or seven other cars. Most were SUVs that people bought to attempt to convince other people that they were outdoorsy. Edward snorted at the one we parked next to. Upon close inspection it was easy to see that the bike rack installed on the roof of the car had never even been used. If it had been any other day I might have joined in the laughter, but I didn't.

Edward guided me to the dirt trail. It was a nice path. The trees were pretty and occasionally we saw a few birds or a rabbit, but it was never enough to strike up a conversation. Due to my disabilities we walked slowly, so as to prevent me from tripping over the occasional root that jutted its way into the path.

We met people on the path. They were usually elderly couples, out for a hike. They would be wearing matching jogging outfits or occasionally hiking boots. Sometimes they would smile at us and say something casual about the weather. Edward always responded politely, I never said anything.

When we had started off on the path a sign had told me that this trail was named something point. I couldn't remember what the something was, but it led me to believe that we would come out on some sort of cliff or something like that. After a while I'm sure that the people we crossed paths with assumed that I planned on throwing myself off of said cliff and that Edward was there to assist me or something. It didn't really sound like a bad idea. I was upset which meant that I tended to be a bit melodramatic.

After an hour another couple came upon us. Instead of just heading on Edward stopped to examine something in the path. Once the couple was past us Edward's attention did not leave the tree that he was so closely examining. As they moved out of sight Edward suddenly moved right off the path and into the forest.

I watched him go a few paces before he turned to me and beckoned me forward with his hand. A few steps out I realized that we were on a path that was usually only used by small animals. You would have had to know about it in order to find it.

This path was much more treacherous than the earlier one. There were no volunteers who came through to clear this path of roots, rock and other things. Bushes stuck out everywhere. There were fallen trees that had to be climbed over. If Edward and I had been talking I would have complained.

Edward was always close. Every time I so much as wobbled his hands would be ready to catch me. I took extra care to make sure that such an occasion would not arise. If I felt Edward's hands on me I would fall apart.

After yet another hour of trekking through the uncharted woods I saw Edward look up and smile. He must have recognized something because my eyes saw nothing to smile at. Another ten minuets later and we came upon a clearing.

The clearing was how I would have imagined heaven. It was a perfect circle lined by trees and boulders with a strong patch of sunlight in the middle. But the most amazing part was the wild flowers. From a distance it looked carpeted with purple lupines. I couldn't help but gasp.

I ran out to the center of the clearing, simply feeling the sun on my face. I closed my eyes and inhaled the sweet scent of the flowers (Alice had always claimed that lupines smelled terrible. I thought she was crazy). For a moment I felt completely at peace.

Then I remembered Edward. He was probably watching me. I opened my eyes and almost fell over backwards. Edward was standing right in front of me. Not a foot in front of me, but right in front of me, close enough to touch.

I opened my mouth to say something but was silenced my Edward's intense look. The next thing I knew, he was kissing me.

When I had kissed Edward the night before I had done so with great caution, not wanting to overstep any boundaries. Edward was not so cautious. He practically jumped on me, pulling me up against his chest.

For a moment I just stood there and pondered my situation. By the way, it is very hard to ponder when someone is fiercely attacking your lips with theirs. I wondered why Edward was kissing me. After last night he had made it clear that he wasn't interested. My brain managed to come up with a solution. Edward was giving me what I wanted. He wanted to make me happy, so he was letting me have my moment.

Now I had two options. I could either spare myself the later heartbreak and push him off, or I could make the best of a bad situation and get what I wanted.

I chose option two.

The moment I made my decision my brain clicked off. All that mattered was getting Edward as close to me as possible as quickly as possible before he decided that I had had enough. I threaded my fingers through his soft hair and pulled him down closer to me. Much to my surprise, Edward's hands wrapped around my waist, pulling our bodies against each other's. He clung to me like a life preserver.

I knew that neither of us had ever been this close to another person before and for the first time I really understood what we had been missing.

Edward's soft warm mouth opened and begged mine to do the same. I could never say no to him.

My head was spinning. I felt as though I was slowly falling. It wasn't until my knees hit the ground that I realized that I had been falling. Edward still held me close, both of us kneeling on the ground. The kiss would break for brief seconds to gasp for air, but that was it.

After countless minuets I felt Edward try to pull away. I couldn't let that happen. If we stopped then this would be the last time that I ever kissed him. Now that I had him I couldn't let him go.

As Edward sat back I followed him, straddling his hips in order to keep all possible contact. I really did expect him to stop me at some point, but Edward continued to surprise me by wrapping one arm around my waist to secure me and placing the other hand on the back of my head.

Aside from that disaster that I had caused the night before, this was the first time either Edward or I had ever kissed anyone. It was obvious that Edward was very good at what he was doing. This didn't surprise me much. Edward was naturally good at everything, why would kissing be any different?

"Bella," Edward managed to say around my attacking lips. "Do you—think we could—talk?"

I pulled back to look at him. Edward's face was set. He wanted to talk. I wasn't going to get out of this.

"No," I shook my head and started kissing him again.

Edward gave in for about a minuet before peeling his lips away to ask me, "Why?"

"Because," my voice sounded as thought I was about to cry, "if we stop then you are not going to let me kiss you anymore."

I watched the emotions that played across Edward's face in a manner of seconds. Confusion. Understanding. Distress, or maybe sadness. Then I saw him briefly smile before he pulled my lips back down to his.

He pulled me closer and I tightened my own hold on him as I felt him shift forward. As he pressed me back into the cool grass I attempted to pull him even closer to me, but Edward placed both hands on my shoulders and pushed himself away from me. Tricky.

"How about if we talk and I promise to let you kiss me again later?" He was smiling playfully down at me.

I considered this for a moment. I would have to face the ultimate rejection sooner or later, but Edward was still going to let me have him for a little while. I guessed that this would never leave the meadow. In the back of my mind I began to wonder how long Edward and I could reasonably live here before someone found us or we ran out of food. No one knew where we were. I somehow doubted that Edward was ever in boy scouts.

I sighed and nodded. Edward moved off of me and I sat up. Edward tried to meet my eyes but I found them more drawn to the purple flowers springing out of the ground beneath us.

Edward sighed. "Bella, I am so sorry about last night."

"You don't have to be," I muttered. "It was all my fault."

"No, Bella, don't you understand?" Edward placed his hands on my shoulders again and forced me to look in his eyes. "It was my fault."

I thought that over for a second. I didn't remember Edward jumping on me and kissing me. Why was this all suddenly his fault?

"No, I'm pretty sure that was all me."

Edward's eyes looked hurt. "No, Bella let me explain. You have to see that—you startled me last night! I was not expecting you to do that. And I was so shocked that—I froze. I'm sorry." His eyes were pleading now.

"It was a legitimate reaction, Edward." I shrugged. "If someone that I didn't have those kinds of feeling about tried to kiss me—"

"What?" Edward cut me off, his face incredulous. "You think that I don't have feelings for you?"

"We're just _friends_, Edward. You've said so yourself a million times."

Edward closed his eyes and swore. Then he started to laugh and shake his head. He leaned his head back and opened his eyes to stare up at the clear sky. "Oh my god," he laughed again.

"What?" I was even more confused than I had been earlier.

Edward lowered his head back to my eye level and smiled at me. "Nothing. I'm just laughing at myself."

"Care to fill me in on the joke?"

"We seem to be misinterpreting each other Bella. Although how you managed to convince yourself that I didn't have feelings for you is mindboggling. In the last week I must have said it more times than I can count. I felt like I was screaming it at you. And you honestly had no idea?" Edward was looking at me as though there was some question of my sanity. I looked back at him with a similar expression.

"You have feelings for me? More than platonic feelings? Since when?" I asked incredulously. It was all too much. There had to be a punch line somewhere. I was waiting for him to laugh at me and tell me that it was all just some joke that Emmett had asked him to do.

"Since the first time you snapped at me for being rude to you in class." Edward smiled at the distant memory. "You were the first girl besides Rose who didn't put up with my crap. It shocked me, and I liked it. It shocked me _that_ I liked it."

"It didn't stop you from being a jerk," I commented.

"Of course it didn't. It meant that I had to put my guard up even more. I told you, I wanted you to be different, but I couldn't convince myself that you were. I was just waiting for you to turn into one of those horrible shallow girls. If I let myself like you then I would end up worse off than ever."

"But I wasn't like the other girls," I prompted him. I really needed to see where this story was going.

"No, you weren't. Every time I saw you you became more and more frustrating. Smarter, kinder, sweeter. You were tearing my life apart and part of me hated you for that. You have to understand, Bella, before you came along I had never so much as glanced at another girl. You became all that I could think about. And then that night at the movies." Edward's eyes became distant. "The very fact that you were there made me want you. I'd never wanted anyone before. It's very confusing the first time around."

"Tell me about it," I mumbled. "Especially when the person that you want is being a distant jerk."

Edward smiled at me. He raised a hand to tuck a lose strand of hair behind my ear. His warm hand ran down the side of my face, cupping my jaw. "I told you that I was sorry for that."

I leaned my cheek into his warm hand. "I know."

Edward languidly ran his thumb across my cheekbone. "You are so beautiful."

I blushed.

Edward chuckled. "Even more so when you do that." His face changed and become more serious. "I am so sorry for making you upset last night. I felt like a complete ass."

"Yes you were," I teased.

Edward laughed. "So now do you believe that I have feelings for you?"

"No," I shook my head. "Now I'm convinced that I am asleep. I have to be dreaming this."

Edward pulled me closer. "Well, then I guess it's my job to awaken the fair princess."

His lips fluttered across mine like butterfly wings. So sweet and gentle, unlike our earlier clash of emotions.

"Are you awake yet?" he whispered against my lips.

"No," I giggled back.

I clutched him to me and kissed him hard. I had obviously miscalculated and the force I used to pull him forward sent both of us tipping backwards onto the grass.

"God I love you," Edward laughed when we broke apart again.

"What?" I asked. I'm pretty sure that my eyes managed to pop out of my head when he said this. It was hard enough for me to take in that Edward might like me. But love?

Edward leaned down to kiss me. "I love you," he repeated an inch away from my lips. The intensity of his closeness made me shake.

"Since when?" I asked, trying my best to be casual, and failing miserably.

Edward thought for a moment. "Since that night first night at my apartment. You said my name in your sleep."

I flushed with embarrassment. Of course that was the moment that Edward had to pick. When I was not only talking in my sleep, but also drunk. Fun.

"You had to pick one of the more embarrassing moments of my life?" I asked. I guessed that the night before was no longer embarrassing, just a hiccup.

Edward smiled and looked deeply into my eyes. "It was the one of the best moments of my life." He stroked the side of my face again, making it very hard for me to concentrate on what he was saying. "Hearing you say my name, knowing that you were dreaming about me, it forced me to admit that I had feelings for you. If you hadn't I may have gone on ignoring how I felt."

"Well, we couldn't have that, now could we?" I giggled. This was unreal. Edward was sitting here saying that he loved me. It was like something out of a storybook. It was over, the prince loved me. Onto the happily ever after.

"Well, just so you don't feel left out, I love you to," I said like I was referring to the weather.

Edward rolled his eyes at my utter lack of emotion when I said this. "Glad to hear it."

To prove to him that I wasn't just saying it, I pulled him down on me and kissed him more passionately than I had thought possible.

The End

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**There you go, standard , fluffy happy ending. The whole time I was writing this I had no idea how they were going to get together, then Edward had this great idea, but he was very obstinate about it not happening until a certain time, which frustrated me. He explains it all in his version which I am almost done with. Any way, Edward's side of this story will be coming soon to a computer near you, now that I'm done with school and have some time to actually sit down and write something. Stupid ten page anthropology essays.  
**

**Thanks for reading, and thanks for sticking with me for so long! Its been fun. :)**


	14. Author's Note: Sequel Anyone?

**Hello again!**

**I know, I know. I hate it when authors tease you by adding an author's not chapter to. But good news, the first chapter of the sequel, i.e. Edward's point of view of this story, is now up!**

**Yay! I am excited to.**

**It's called Geek Love: Edward's Story.**

**(Creative title isn't it?)**

**Alright. Go! Read! Have fun!**


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